SAD slams Centre on fuel price hike

Chandigarh, Jun 25: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday flayed the Centre for effecting "hefty and unwarranted" hike in fuel prices, saying it would have a crushing impact on the common masses.

In a statement issued here, SAD President and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the Congress-led UPA government "deliberately hastened the oil price hike as it feared that crashing crude price every day would leave no justification for diesel, kerosene and LPG price hike."

Badal said the diesel price hike would have direct bearing of economy on farmers and transporters, who were already neck-deep in ever-mounting debt and have a cascading effect on the inflation that was refusing to come down from the double-digit figure.

The SAD president said this ''Aam Adami ki Sarkar'' "has already exposed its people friendly face" by effecting 40 per cent hike in the price of petrol and now in LPG and diesel.

He questioned the loss figures being projected by oil companies and demanded a joint parliamentary committee be constituted to bring out the actual truth in the projected loss.

Badal demanded an immediate rollback in the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG and said he along with state chief minister, would soon call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard.

PTI