By IANS,
Kolkata : All Left group parliamentarians will march to parliament Tuesday to protest rising prices, Communist Party Of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here Monday.
“This march is to caution the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that soaring inflation will spoil its prospects in the forthcoming elections,” Yechury told IANS.
“Price-rise is the most serious issue for the common people. Inflation hurts a nation’s economic growth. If the government does not take steps, chances of (UPA) winning the general elections are very thin,” Yechury said.
He said though the march is against parliamentary rules, “we, as supporters of the UPA government, don’t have any option of pressurizing the ruling coalition to take effective measures to cut down prices of essential commodities like mustard oil, sugar and rice. Let the police arrest us for marching to and inside parliament.”
The marchers will put forward the demand for immediate ban on forwards trading in commodities, re-evaluation of the public distribution system and taxes on petroleum.
The Left parties and the constituents of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) will hold agitations throughout the country April 16-23 protesting the high inflation and the soaring prices.
For the week ending March 29, the inflation rate touched a three-year high of 7.41 percent.