CPI(M) demands immediate roll back of fuel price hike

Terming the government's move to hike petrol prices as "callous", the CPI(M) today demanded immediate roll back of the hike and restoration of the administrative regulation of petrol pricing.

Condemning the hike of petrol price by Rs3.14 per litre in Delhi, the party politburo said this was the third increase this year which "comes at a time when inflation is touching double digits and the people have no respite from the price rise of essential commodities. This callous move will only have a cascading effect on inflation and price rise."

"The people can see that the Congress-led government is itself responsible for stoking price rise and inflation by such measures," the CPI(M) said, demanding the cancellation of this price rise and restoring the administrative regulation of pricing of petrol.

Party general secretary Prakash Karat said the repeated increases in petrol prices "shows how callous the UPA government has become".

"The deregulation of petrol prices is already having a cascading effect while the UPA government has been consistently refusing to rationalise the tax structure on petroleum prices," he said.