Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday criticised the latest petrol price hike of Rs. 1.80 per litre and warned the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the Centre that such measures that burden people were unacceptable.
The hike in petrol prices, the 11th in a year, has left the key UPA constituent fuming. The Trinamool chief ticked off the Congress-led UPA government for not consulting its allies before fuel price hikes, but said her party would not pull out of the coalition for now.
"Eleven fuel price hikes in a year are unacceptable," the West Bengal chief minister said after her party's emergency parliamentary board meeting in Kolkata to discuss its course of action.
Banerjee's outbursts, the strongest so far against the Congress, came after Trinamool's parliamentary board expressed its desire to pull out of the central government.
A visibly upset Trinamool chief said the party wanted her to pull out of the UPA government. However, the decision was kept in abeyance as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was out of the country.
The Trinamool Congress is the second largest constituent of the UPA and has 18 MPs.
Earlier in the day, the mood during the Trinamool meeting was belligerent as Trinamool members felt the party was being taken for granted by the Congress, sources told Headlines Today.
The MPs wanted all Trinamool ministers be withdrawn from the Union Cabinet as they felt miffed at not being consulted about the fuel price hike.
Trinamool leaders Dinesh Trivedi, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sudeep Bandhopadhyay were among those present in the meeting.
"As far as the fuel rise is concerned, I am sure we never had any discussion (with the allies). We came to know from the media and newspaper," Trivedi said.
Price hike oil companies' decision: Pranab
The Congress rushed Union Minister Anand Sharma to Kolkata to pacify its ally.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the fuel price hike was not a government decision, but a call taken by the "independent oil companies".
Oil marketing companies had on Thursday raised petrol prices by Rs. 1.80 per litre. The latest petrol price rise -- the 11th since June 2010 -- comes over and above a steep upward revision of Rs. 3.14 a litre on September 15, 2011.
The hike in petrol prices, the 11th in a year, has left the key UPA constituent fuming. The Trinamool chief ticked off the Congress-led UPA government for not consulting its allies before fuel price hikes, but said her party would not pull out of the coalition for now.
"Eleven fuel price hikes in a year are unacceptable," the West Bengal chief minister said after her party's emergency parliamentary board meeting in Kolkata to discuss its course of action.
Banerjee's outbursts, the strongest so far against the Congress, came after Trinamool's parliamentary board expressed its desire to pull out of the central government.
A visibly upset Trinamool chief said the party wanted her to pull out of the UPA government. However, the decision was kept in abeyance as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was out of the country.
The Trinamool Congress is the second largest constituent of the UPA and has 18 MPs.
Earlier in the day, the mood during the Trinamool meeting was belligerent as Trinamool members felt the party was being taken for granted by the Congress, sources told Headlines Today.
The MPs wanted all Trinamool ministers be withdrawn from the Union Cabinet as they felt miffed at not being consulted about the fuel price hike.
Trinamool leaders Dinesh Trivedi, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sudeep Bandhopadhyay were among those present in the meeting.
"As far as the fuel rise is concerned, I am sure we never had any discussion (with the allies). We came to know from the media and newspaper," Trivedi said.
Price hike oil companies' decision: Pranab
The Congress rushed Union Minister Anand Sharma to Kolkata to pacify its ally.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the fuel price hike was not a government decision, but a call taken by the "independent oil companies".
Oil marketing companies had on Thursday raised petrol prices by Rs. 1.80 per litre. The latest petrol price rise -- the 11th since June 2010 -- comes over and above a steep upward revision of Rs. 3.14 a litre on September 15, 2011.
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