Kolkata: Trinamool Congress on Sunday protested against hike in railway passenger fares and announced a week- long agitation all over West Bengal, accusing the new central government of taking anti-people measures despite promising welfare for them before the Lok Sabha elections.
"The way railway fares have been hiked, it has crossed all previous records and we protest this," Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy told reporters at the party headquarter here.
"Parliament is sitting soon, but the central government decided to bypass it and hiked railway fares without taking the House into confidence," Roy, a former Railway Minister, said adding "this is in bad taste."
He said the hike in passenger fares and freight rates would lead to increase in prices of essential commodities, and the party MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would protest against the hike in Parliament when it sits in session.
Roy said that Mamata Banerjee as Railway Minister had shown that it was possible to ensure passenger amenities and safety and security without raising fares by proper utilisation of funds.
"The party which has come to power at the Centre had promised welfare of the people before the election, but has already started taking anti-people decision," he said.
The week-long agitation programme throughout West Bengal, he said, would start with a march from College Square to Esplanade tomorrow at 2 PM, where all available MPs and MLAs of the party, apart from other leaders and workers, would participate.
On the next days, different wings of the party, including the youth and students` fronts, would hold rallies and marches at different places of the state, Roy said.
