Left parties call general strike on June 13

Thiruvananthapuram, June 7 (UNI) The Marxist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala today called for a general strike on June 13 to protest against the hike in the prices of petroleum products and the 'anti-labour policies' of the UPA Government at the Centre.

In a statement here, the LDF State Committee said the all India protest day called by trade unions would be observed as general strike in Kerala.

It said though the Left parties had put forward some alternate proposals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to curb the price hike, the government had not taken them into consideration it alleged.

The LDF said the protest day was being observed on June 13 in order to put pressure on the UPA Government to correct its wrong policies that pushed the common man into a deep crisis. Only through a strong public protest, the UPA Government could be forced to withdraw such wrong steps.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation said they would observe a day's strike on June 13 as the petroleum price hike left the transport industry in a deep crisis. Federation General Secretary Lawrance Babu also urged the state government to reduce the sales tax on petroleum products.

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