Kolkata: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Friday he will convey to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi the concerns of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the issue of repeated petrol price hikes.
"The chief minister has apprised me very frankly of her concerns and views. We are together as partners in the coalition but also committed equally to work for the larger good of the country. I shall be conveying what chief minister had said to the prime minister and UPA chairperson," Sharma said at a press conference here.
The Trinamool, with 18 Lok Sabha MPs, is the second largest constituent of the Congress-led UPA government.
Trinamool sources said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was extremely peeved over the regular oil price hikes and the party`s discontent has been conveyed to the Congress` central leadership.
A Trinamool leader said the party was never consulted before such important decisions, which have a direct bearing on the daily lives of the common people.
The oil marketing companies Thursday raised petrol prices by Rs.1.80 per litre effective midnight, just over a month-and-a-half since the last hike of Rs.3.14 a litre on Sep 15.
The latest hike is the 11th since June 2010.
IANS