Fuel price hike: Left demands roll back, PM says no

New Delhi: Reacting strongly against the hike in petrol and diesel prices, Left parties on Thursday demanded its immediate roll back and threatened nationwide protests while BJP too warned of agitation, saying the increase would trigger inflation and badly hit the common man.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ruled out any roll back of the price hike, saying this would have a disastrous impact on the economy.

"The increase is marginal. We have a situation where the world prices are rising," Manmohan Singh said.

"If we continue subsiding (the oil companies against rising crude prices) the fiscal system would collapse", he maintained.

However CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said, "We protest this decision and will organise widespread protests against it. This hike was not necessary and should be withdrawn."

He said government's "initial idea" was to hike petrol prices by Rs 12-16, diesel prices by Rs 12, kerosene by Rs five and LPG cylinder by Rs 150 to meet the under-recoveries.

Government on Thursday increased petrol price by Rs two a litre and diesel by Rs one.

Yechury also said that even this rise would not have been necessary if the government had restructured the ad valorem tax structure on import of petrol products.

Seeking to fault the Congress on its aam aadmi plank, BJP president Rajnath Singh said the hike will push up the prices of essential commodities, affecting all sections of the society, particularly the middle class and farmers.

"The common man will have to bear the brunt of the petrol price hike. The Congress-led UPA government has failed to control price rise," Singh told PTI.

He said the party will launch a countrywide agitation against the hike from Friday.

Since the UPA came to power four years ago, Government had decided to hike prices twice but was forced to roll back due to Left pressure.

"So the prices of petro products today stand at the same level as before the UPA came to power. It has been forced to retreat earlier. Now too, we hope that the government will reconsider its decision," Yechury added.