Trouble was brewing in the UPA on Friday after the Trinamul Congress and the DMK, the second- and third-largest parties in the ruling coalition, joined the Opposition parties to demand a rollback of the latest increase in fuel prices, saying it would hit the common man hard.
Also, opposition by the Trinamul Congress and the DMK to limiting the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders forced the government to indefinitely postpone a meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers, scheduled for Friday afternoon. Official sources said the meeting was deferred at the last minute “due to non-availability” of certain members of the panel.
“[We want] rollback of the petrol price hike,” senior Trinamul leader and railway minister Dinesh Trivedi said, adding that his party was not consulted before the hike was announced.
DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said: “The hike in petrol prices will affect the lower, middle income groups and the poor alike. The increase will have a cascading effect and the common man will be put to enormous hardship. The government should not reduce the subsidy.”
Another ally, the NCP, said the hike would lead to a rise in the prices of other commodities and badly hit the rural poor in particular. “Since we are part of the government, we are not opposing the decision, but are stating our views,” said NCP general secretary D.P. Tripathi.
The EGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was due to decide on a task force proposal that a household be given only four to six LPG cylinders a year at a subsidised price, with more cylinders supplied at the market rate. This could mean non-subsidised gas cylinders being sold for around `700, which was strongly opposed by the Trinamul Congress and other parties. The decision will, however, save the government around `12,000 crores.
In a statement issued around midnight Thursday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati termed the hike as an “anti-people” measure, saying that by allowing the oil companies to raise prices at will, the UPA government was promoting inflation.
Criticising the government over the hike in fuel prices, BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the Congress’ allies should not simply criticise the hike, but also force the government to withdraw it. The Biju Yuva Janata Dal announced it would begin an agitation against the hike across Orissa.