Everyone can protest, Mamata on CITU strike on fuel price hike

Sticking to her demand for a roll back in fuel prices, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today appeared to have justified the Left-backed strike in West Bengal against the hike.

New Delhi: Sticking to her demand for a
roll back in fuel prices, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee
today appeared to have justified the Left-backed strike in
West Bengal against the hike.

"Everyone has a right to protest," she said when asked to
comment about the strike in West Bengal by CPI-M backed trade
union, CITU.
"The hike in prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene has
overburdened the people...I am disturbed," she told reporters
and once again appealed to the Government to reconsider its
decision.

Banerjee said she has conveyed her displeasure to Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whom she met second time in as many
days. A day before the decision by the Empowered Group of
Ministers (EGoM) yesterday to hike the prices of petrol,
diesel, LPG and kerosene, Banerjee had met the Finance
Minister and expressed her reservations over the move.
The Minister said the rise in price of diesel will also
impact the Railways which will have to bear an additional
burden of Rs 460 crore to run its fleet of over 5000 diesel
locomotives.

Banerjee has made her unhappiness clear over the
government`s decision, saying her party did not support the
move to hike fuel prices and that was the reason she was not
present at the meeting of EGoM.

PTI

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