BHUBANESWAR: The BJD has given a call for Odisha bandh on May 31 against the steepest-ever hike in petrol price effected by the Centre. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the BJD leaders, presided over by Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei, at the party headquarters here. Ghadei called upon all leaders and workers of the party to organise rallies and meetings at district and block headquarters to make the bandh a success. Alleging that the recent hike was the 11th by the UPA in its eight-year rule at the Centre, a release, issued by the BJD, described the increase by ` 7.50 per litre as undemocratic. It called upon all youths, students and women’s organisations to participate in the bandh. Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasanna Acharya, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patro, former ministers Damodar Rout and Pramila Mallick, president of Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) Sanjay Dasburma, Deputy Chief Whip Arun Sahu and other senior leaders attended the meeting. The Left and its allies CPI, CPM, Forward Bloc, RJD and Samajwadi Party too criticised the Centre for the petrol price hike and called upon the people to support the hartal call given by them on May 31. ‘’The hike in the petrol price is a gift to the people by the UPA II on completion of its three years,’’ a statement, issued by the political parties, sarcastically said. The five political parties demanded immediate withdrawal of the enhanced price and advised the UPA to desist from increasing prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene. Dibakar Nayak (CPI), Janardan Pati (CPM), Rabi Behera (Samajwadi Party), Santosh Mitra (Forward Bloc) and Harish Mohapatra (RJD) also exhorted people of the State to make the hartal a success.
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