Nationwide shutdown uncalled for: Congress
July 3rd, 2010 - 6:10 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) The Congress has termed the opposition-backed July 5 nationwide shutdown against price rise as “uncalled for” as it will cause hardship to people and said that the protesters could have raised their issues in parliament.
“There is no need of Bharat Bandh (nationwide shutdown). It will cause hardship to people all over the country. Parliament session is beginning July 26. They (opposition parties) can raise their issues in parliament,” Congress spokesman Mohan Prakash told IANS.
Asked about the opposition charge that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has failed to check price rise, Prakash said the blame lies with the opposition parties, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for the prices not coming down appreciably.
“Whenever prices start coming down, the Opposition, mainly the BJP, starts making noise on price rise. This creates a psyche which is taken advantage of by profiteers,” Prakash said.
Referring to latest inflation figures which show the food inflation dropping to 12.9 percent for the week ending June 19 from 16.9 percent over the previous week, Prakash said the BJP and other opposition parties have again made noise about price rise.
“This has happened twice earlier,” he said, adding that it creates a situation to the benefit of profiteers and prevents a sharp fall in prices.
Congress earlier defended the hike in prices of petroleum products, decided by the government last month. It said the decision must have been made under some compulsion as no government wants to be unpopular.
The call for the dawn-to-dusk countrywide shutdown July 5 has been given by the Janata Dal-United, the BJP, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Communist Party of India (CPI), the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc, the Samajwadi Party, the AIADMK, the Telugu Desam Party, the Biju Janata Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal.
According to JD-U leaders, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena will also join the strike.
- Opposition calls for nationwide strike July 5 (Roundup) - Jun 29, 2010
- Opposition calls all-India shutdown July 5 (Lead) - Jun 29, 2010
- Opposition calls all-India strike July 5 - Jun 29, 2010
- Tripura Left Front not to join all-India strike July 5 - Jun 30, 2010
- Hundreds court arrest in Orissa (Lead) - Jul 05, 2010
- Shutdown anti-public activity of opposition: Congress - Jul 05, 2010
- Gadkari, Sharad Yadav detained in Delhi - Jul 05, 2010
- Opposition shutdown pure sensationalism, says Congress (Lead) - Jul 05, 2010
- Opposition gears up for nationwide shutdown - Jul 03, 2010
- Left labels strike 'unprecedented success', threatens more protests (Lead) - Jul 05, 2010
- India shuts down against hike in fuel prices (Roundup) - Jul 05, 2010
- Shutdown against fuel price hike hits Orissa - Jul 05, 2010
- BJP, Left to give notices for adjournment motion (Lead) - Jul 26, 2010
- Partial response to shutdown in northeast, barring Assam - Jul 05, 2010
- Karat praises CPI-M's role against communal politics - Jul 07, 2010
Tags: aiadmk, bharatiya janata party, biju, bjp, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, compulsion, congress spokesman, dawn to dusk, forward bloc, inflation figures, opposition parties, parliament session, petroleum products, prakash, progressive alliance, revolutionary socialist party, Samajwadi Party, telugu desam party, week ending june