CPI(M) to protest oil price hike

NEW DELHI: Opposing any increase in petroleum  prices, the CPI(M) on Friday refuted reports that it had been kept informed by the government on the matter and announced plans to coordinate with the Left and other parties to launch a nationwide agitation in case of a hike.

“We are totally opposed to any rise in prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas...We don’t want to negotiate on this matter. If they (government) want to discuss cuts in duties (on oil products), we are ready to discuss,” party general secretary Prakash Karat said here.

About reports of petroleum minister Murli Deora saying the Left parties had been kept in the loop on the proposal to hike prices, he said, “He has not spoken to any one of us.”

Demanding cuts in the customs and excise duties on oil products by the Centre, he said state governments should also carry out similar cuts. “On our part, we have asked the (Left-ruled) governments in Kerala and West Bengal to see what can be done.”
Karat said the government should first cut duties on crude and petroleum products.