NEW DELHI, July 4 � A day before a countrywide shutdown called by all opposition parties against the hike in fuel prices, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani Sunday termed it a �first� in India but the Left asserted it was not fighting jointly with the BJP against the Congress-led government at the Centre, reports IANS.
The likely impact of the shutdown can be gauged from the fact that a major truckers union said Sunday that a staggering 62 lakh vehicles would stay off the roads Monday.
The countrywide opposition shutdown, called by the Left parties and the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), against the fuel price hike is for the �first time in India�s history,� Advani said.
Advani, who is the BJP parliamentary board chairperson, said: �As far as my memory goes, this is for the first time I am seeing so many of the political parties coming together calling a Bharat Bandh.�
However, Communist Party of India�s (CPPI) deputy general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy told IANS that it was the Congress� attempt to �brand� that the Left parties and the BJP were fighting together aga-inst their government.
�Left has given call for the shutdown separately. Similarly, BJP and their alliance have given call for strike separately. We are not fighting together,� he said.
In a statement, the BJP-led NDA said that though the Left parties have called for a separate bandh on the same day, the NDA was �heartened� to find that cutting across ideologies, opposition parties have come together to forcefully register their protest and demand roll back of the recent hikes.
Attacking the government, the statement said: �If the government admits its inability to roll back prices and control inflation, it has no business to cling on to power. This is the message that will go out from tomorrow�s Bharat Bandh.�
The NDA will not tolerate the government�s �premeditated conspiracy� against the people of India, it added.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) also slammed the government for not reconsidering the steps being taken to deregulate petrol and diesel prices, saying �the the deregulation of prices are meant to help the private oil companies and put the people at the mercy of a market-controlled by the multinational oil companies and the domestic corporates�.
The CPI-M charged the Congress-led government with being �directly responsible� for the rise in food prices.
Appealing to the people to join the all India shutdown Monday, the party said: �This powerful all India protest action should serve as a warning to the government not to heap burdens on the people and to withdraw the price hike measures.�
