After the recent increase in petrol prices, Mamata Banerjee reportedly stated that the government should have increased petrol prices gradually instead of affecting such a steep increase in one go. This is classic doublespeak. If she was serious about it, she would have made a demand for increasing prices whenever the global prices of crude oil went up. As regards to the “decontrol” of petrol prices, since oil marketing companies are government-owned, the de facto control still remains with the government. So, ultimately, it boils down to how well the government manages petro-products prices, economically and politically.
Kishor Kulkarni, Mumbai
