The ruling Congress, though officially claimed that ways needed to be found to ease pressure on common man, appeared to be “unhappy” over the development. A senior party functionary on the condition of anonymity said, “Every time you hike the prices of petro products and leave it to us to do explaining. It will not happen this time, let the minister come back from the foreign trip and do the explaining.”
The Congress leader also said that the party leadership is also not happy with the timing of the decision, as it came just a day after the UPA held a function to mark the completion of three years in office and also when the main Opposition BJP is holding its three-day national executive in Mumbai. “Because of this, only the BJP could manage to shift the focus from its internal squabbling,” he said, adding that though the party was in the loop over a possible hike, it was not consulted on “quantum” and “the timing”. However, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “The party is hopeful that some kind of a modus vivendi involving the Central government, state government and the oil companies will be arrived at... We are hopeful that the government will find a way out so that some of this burden is eased.”