Mamata seeks support for protest against LPG price hike

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asked all political parties, including those supporting the United Progressive Alliance government from outside, to build pressure for roll back of hike in price of non-subsidised cooking gas.

"Time is running out. I would appeal to political parties, even those who are extending outside support to UPA-II government to stand up and be bold to oppose this decision.

I assure you to be with you for the sake of the common people," Banerjee said in her latest post on Facebook.

Banerjee alleged that the decisions to put a cap on subsidised LPG cylinders and increasing their prices was taken in the "interest of a few petroleum companies".

Dubbing the UPA as a "minority" government, Mamata alleged that the Centre was using CBI to "terrorise" its opponents.

"Though I have great respect for CBI as an institution, but the way they are being used for political purposes and also unnecessarily made to create problems in every state to control political parties and state governments, is not acceptable. It proves that CBI now stands for 'Congress Bureau of Investigation'," she held.

"I am told from different sources that the present UPA government has developed a feeling that there is nobody to change their decision," she wrote on Facebook.

Claiming that the "doomsday of democracy" was near if the UPA government continued to function like this, she alleged that the government "does not believe in democratic system of functioning and even the newly-appointed ministers have started threatening other political parties".

Noting that it was the "right time" to build public opinion against the Centre, Mamata asked the UPA not to forget that in democracy, people are the supreme authority.

The price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG), which consumers buy beyond the cheaper quota of six cylinders, was today hiked by Rs 26.50 to Rs 922 per unit on firming international rates.