Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday threatened the Centre that unless increased prices of petrol and diesel were rolled back, she would opt for political confrontation with the Union government. She also claimed that being the second largest ally of the UPA, the Trinamul Congress was not consulted before announcing this “unilateral” decision to increase the prices of petrol and diesel in West Bengal.
Petrol and diesel prices in Kolkata have increased by `2.52 and `0.92 respectively. The state government, however, indicated that it would not provide any subsidy to compensate this price rise for the people.
The oil marketing companies PSUs recalibrated rates to reflect changes in local levies resulting which petrol and diesel prices reduced in 11 states but increased in seven states, including West Bengal. The prices have gone up in West Bengal because of the increased irrecoverable taxes here compared to several other states.
The chief minister, however, blamed the Centre for this hike. She got the news after reaching the Writers’ Building from Kolkata airport where she landed on a special aircraft from New Delhi in the afternoon. “The Centre has increased the price without consulting the state governments. I was in New Delhi in the morning but nobody was informed about this,” the chief minister announced in the evening.