Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The opposition BJP on Monday gave an ultimatum to the UPA government for an immediate rollback of petrol price, failing which it has threatened to disrupt the Winter Session of the Parliament.
"If the government wants the upcoming session to run smoothly they must roll back the prices immediately... What we demand, what the people of this country demand is to roll back the petrol hike because there is no justification," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
On reports that government may go for further deregulation of diesel too, BJP said it needs all out condemnation because this is further harassment.
The BJP charged that the government has lost touch with reality and this has made the common men angry, oppressed and harassed.
"It seems that govt is insensitive towards people worries and aspirations," he said.
Javadekar reasoned that the govt can’t bring policy changes in the name of reforms when people are already living under double digit inflation.
The development came at a time when UPA’s biggest constituent Trinamool Congress has stepped up the heat on the Centre over petrol price hike.
There is a possibility that Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee could pullout ministers from the Cabinet if the impasse continues. Trinamool Congress has 18 members in the Lok Sabha.
Banerjee had made it clear that any more economic pressure on the people won’t be accepted by her party.
However, BJP hit out at the UPA allies, saying they were "part and parcel" of the hike.
Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had virtually justified the hike in petrol prices, saying that the decision to decontrol the petroleum prices was a part of the process to ensure fair play in commodity market.
"These are very sensitive areas and I have no hesitation in saying ultimately we must allow the markets to find their own level except for those commodities which are semi public goods...So, the direction of change is quite clear. We must move in the direction of decontrolling more and more prices,” he had told journalists at the sidelines of G-20 Summit in Cannes.
First Published: Monday, November 07, 2011, 16:28