One more hike, we\'re out

New Delhi, November 9, 2011(Tehelkanews)

Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Tuesday that her party would pull out of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition if there was another hike in the prices of petroleum products.



In what amounted to a scathing attack on the Congress, she said the "politics of forcible imposition [of decisions]" could not be accepted. "This is not one-party rule but so-many party rule … Such things cannot happen in coalition politics."



"We have protested, we have tolerated frequent rise in prices [of petroleum products]. As a responsible party we have not so far taken a strong decision [till now]."



Ms. Banerjee\'s remarks came four days after her party MPs unanimously decided to pull out of the UPA government in protest against the recent rise in petrol prices, alleging that the party was being kept in the dark on such matters.



Pointing out that the MPs met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the evening and expressed their "justifiable" grievances, she said: "The Trinamool will not be part of the government if there is a further hike [in prices of petroleum products]. This is our decision."



Ms. Banerjee, who was speaking to a television channel, said she hoped the rest of the media "will get to know of it [her remarks] through you."



"If the government thinks that it can get itself another political party [as an ally] and there is no need for the Trinamool, we will move out." The UPA government was quite used to finding itself parties to provide support to it.



"If there is a quarrel with Lalu [Prasad] it holds on to Nitish [Kumar]; if there is one with Mulayam [Singh] it gets hold of Mayawati … That we do not mind. But they all have [ultimately] to go for an election. We are bound to democracy and to the people," she said.



She accused the Congress of adopting a "don\'t care attitude" and pushing things toward an extreme point. Her party did not "want to leave the Centre if its takes the right decisions."



On the imminence of another hike in the prices of domestic gas, diesel and kerosene doing the rounds "which I have got to know of" and which was brought to the notice of Dr. Singh by her party MPs, Ms. Banerjee pointed out that according to reports reaching her "the Prime Minister had said that he had no such information but neither did he give his word against a further hike. He was non-committal."



"It can be done [hike in the prices of petroleum products] once in a while. But not as often as 11 times in 12 months and yet stay non-committal," she said in an obvious attack on the Prime Minister.


News From: http://www.7StarNews.com