Left is right; Kesri shares concern on petrol hike

“Any price hike of oil and petrol products will have a cascading effect and result in the increase of prices all round. This will effect the common man,” the Congress president told media persons.

It was the first official comment from the Congress at the highest level on this controversial issue which has seen the Left Front being pitted against the rest of the constituents in the ruling United Front (UF).

The Centre has been grappling with this crucial policy decision for some time now and the division in the UF’s ranks has kept the debate alive. Kesri’s statement today implies that the Congress would prefer to wait and watch before making any announcement on the matter. By indicating so, Kesri is backing the Left line that credible alternatives be examined before a price hike is done.

An oil price hike is probably one of the tougher decisions for any Government to take, and in the current situation, the Congress would obviously like to be taken into confidence as the biggest ally of the UF.

The general opinion in the UF is that an increase in oil product prices is perhaps inevitable. Kesri may thus be positioning himself for space to criticise the step once it is taken.

Again, this follows the Left gameplan. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) have been opposing the move, saying there are better ways to deal with the oil pool deficit.

CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury has been a leading advocate of other ways to handle the issue. The CPM feels that the Centre is fudging figures.

The Left says, for example, that on oil imports worth Rs 100, a customs duty of Rs 30 is collected, pushing the price to Rs 130. The Centre then levies an excise duty of 20 per cent, inflating the price further to Rs 156.