A day after the expression of public anger over the steepest petrol price hike in a decade, The UPA allies DMK and Trinamool Congress (TMC) planning to stage protests.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will undertake a protest march. Mamata will lead a rally from Hazra to Jadhavpur in south Kolkata on Saturday evening protesting against the hike.
Mamata’s party had skipped the Union Cabinet meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan SIngh’s residence on Thursday. She claimed on Wednesday evening after the hike was announced that her party had not been consulted.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also expressed her anger saying that her party had no role in the move. She said, “No one discussed it with us, no important issues are discussed with us.”
However, she reiterated that she was not walking out of the government, though she said that her party would continue to protest while remaining in the government.
DMK to hold protest in Tamil Nadu
The DMK, an ally of the UPA at the Centre, has announced “peaceful protest” in front of collector’s offices across Tamil Nadu on May 30.
In a statement issued by the party headquarters, the DMK points out that the people of the State are already reeling under a recent bus fare hike as well as an increase in the price of milk and electricity tariff. The timing of this price hike – the steepest in a decade, it feels, will add to the misery of the people.
The DMK Ministers were not present at the cabinet meeting in the capital on Thursday.
When questioned by the media on Wednesday night, soon after the news of the hike came, DMK Chief M Karunanidhi had said his “party MPs would take up the issue with the Centre and push for a rollback”. The 88 year old patriarch however defended the UPA saying “it is not possible for the Union Govt to get the consent of all allies for decisions taken in certain situations.”
Anna Hazare supports Bharat Bandh
Anna Hazare criticised the UPA government for burdening the common man with price hikes while they were celebrating their third anniversary of being in power.
“My activists will support the ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by the BJP and Left parties on May 30 to protest petrol price hike,” Hazare said while addressing a public meeting in Nashik on Thursday night.
Talking about Jan Lokpal “If the government does not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, I will begin my fast unto death at New Delhi,” he said.
When reporters asked him about his health and would be take up fasting during ill-health also, Hazare said, “I am totally fit”.
BJD calls Odisha shutdown on 31st May
Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday called for a statewide shutdown May 31 to protest the hike in petrol prices by oil marketing companies.
At an emergency meeting, the office bearers of the party here decided to organise demonstrations and protests across the state on their own, even though the Left parties and the NDA also have called a nation-wide shutdown the same day.
Price hike to hit common man: Yechury
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury on Thursday attacked the central government for a sharp hike in petrol prices, saying it would hit the common man.
Thackeray slams petrol price hike
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday said liqour was now cheaper than petrol in Maharashtra.
“At the rate prices of oil are going up, it will be soon impossible for people to afford keeping two or four wheeler vehicles. The latest hike will also have a cascading effect on all sectors of the economy and fuel huge inflation,” he warned.
