Thaindian News

Kolkata, Dec 14 (IANS) Left parties Tuesday said they will protest intensely if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government allows a hike in petroleum fuel prices, reacting to news reports that petrol will become dearer by nearly Rs.3 per litre.Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Biman Bose also asked citizens to be vocal in their protest against the “anti-people” decision, even as there was no confirmation on the hike by the oil companies.

“We hear prices of diesel will go up. The petro price increase will raise the transportation cost of essentials like foodgrains and vegetables, thus making them dearer,” said Bose, also the party’s West Bengal unit secretary.

All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) general secretary Debabrata Biswas said a hike was a fallout of the wrong policies of the UPA government, “which had no concern for the common people”.

“With the government having decontrolled petrol prices, the price of fuels is increasing by leaps and bounds. We will definitely agitate against it,” Biswas told IANS.

Senior Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader and state Public Works Department Minister Kshiti Goswami said any petrol price rise was a cause for concern.

“We have been protesting against the escalating price of essentials for long. People’s miseries will only increase. All left parties will sit together and decide on the nature of our agitation,” Goswami said.