Chennai: Strongly condemning the price hike of petrol and diesel by the UPA Government, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha demanded an immediate rollback on Tuesday.
"Hiking the petroleum products prices six times in 24 months is the biggest achievement of the UPA Government. No other Government in the past had done so. It is a great agony to the people," she said.
"The hike would have a cascading effect on the economy, as the prices of the essential commodities would go up," she added.
She was of the opinion that people voted for the UPA on the faith that it would work for their betterment and not because they would raise prices.
"It is of great regret that the UPA Government is a Government that continues to betray people's interests. The diesel price hike will affect the common people and the farmers," she said.
For this "atrocity", the constituents of the Democratic Party Alliance, headed by the DMK, were hand in glove, she charged.
Taking a dig at the Left parties, she said, "It is funny to note that the parties, which had given their consent for the hike, later condemned it and then announced an agitation."
She alleged that the Centre had decided on the hike even before the recent assembly polls in five states and were just waiting for the outcome of the polls before implementing its decision.
Pointing out that the previous AIADMK government had not increased the bus fare despite the increase in the diesel prices in the last two years, she said if Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had any inclination to help the people, he should reduce the sales tax on petroleum products.
Karunanidhi gave this suggestion to her when she was the Chief Minister, she said.
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