Left parties have called for a Bihar bandh on June 10 to protest the hike in petroleum products announced by the UPA government on Wednesday.
The decision to call for the bandh was taken at a meeting here on Thursday, attended by leaders of CPI, CPM, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Krantikari Vichar Manch. The meet also decided to organise a series of protest programmes, commencing from June 6, which would end in a torch procession a day before the bandh.
Claiming that the protests would force the Centre to roll back the price-hike decision, the Left leaders urged people to extend full support to the agitation.
BJP, on the other hand, has decided to organise a protest dharna in Patna on June 7 against the Centre's move. "The UPA government has unleashed economic terror and the BJP would not remain a mute spectator to it," Bihar BJP chief Radha Mohan Singh said and added fuel prices have been hiked eight times since UPA came to power in May 2004.
Several non-political organisations, including Bihar Industries Association and the Automobile Association of Eastern India, have also criticised the hike and termed the Centre's move as "anti-people".
The Rashtriya Pragati Party, women's cell and students' wing of JD(U), Auto Men's Association, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad organised protest programmes on Thursday protesting the hike.
JD(U) leader and Bihar minister Nagmani on Thursday urged governments of other states to follow the steps taken by the government of Bihar to mitigate the impact of fuel price hike on common people.TNN
