New Delhi: The UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday supported the recent hike in petrol and diesel prices at a time when the entire opposition has locked horns with the ruling coalition over the issue. Extending her full support to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Sonia said, "He (Pranab) has done an excellent job of balancing the fiscal deficit through his Budget proposal. The hike in fuel prices is important to foster growth and development in the rural areas of the country." However, she maintained that the issue of containing food price rise continues to be the foremost priority of the government.
The UPA chairperson also came down heavily on the entire opposition for disrupting the proceeding in the Lok Sabha when Finance Minister was presenting the General Budget 2010 in the House.
"The Opposition's disruption of the Parliamentary proceedings was not done in a good taste. When we sat in opposition we did not behave that way," she said while urging the lawmakers to maintain the sanctity of the House.
The UPA chairperson made these remark while addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting at the party headquarter here. Sonia's meeting with the Congress MPs comes after a gap of nearly six months.
Sonia Gandhi's remarks come just two days after Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh clearly ruled out any rollback in petrol and diesel prices, saying the economy has the capacity to absorb the increase without triggering inflationary pressure.
“Any increase in prices does hurt some people, but we have to take a long-term view,” he had told reporters accompanying him on his way back home from Saudi Arabia.Singh made it clear that following populist fiscal policies would only harm the economy in the long run. “We cannot save people from inflation if we follow all populist fiscal policies. Sooner or later these populist policies if persisted for a long time to come will lead to the erosion of the investment climate,” he had said.
“The increase in the fuel prices, the direct effect on the Wholesale Price Index will be no more than 0.40 per cent,” he had reassured.
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