By IANS,
New Delhi : The BJP and CPI-M Friday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had tried to justify “wrong” decisions of his government including the hike in diesel price in his address to the nation even as the Congress said he had clarified every issue.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Prakash Javedakar said the prime minister had talked about “much of the diesel” being used by the rich but the commodity was heavily used in transportation of goods and also in agriculture.
“The government has burdened common man. The government could have earned two lakh crore rupees by cancelling coal block allocation,” Javadekar told a news channel.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Basudeb Acharia said the prime minister had given old arguments to justify hike in price of diesel and claimed the reasons given to justify foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail were wrong.
He said foreign stores will go for monopolistic pricing after establishing their presence in the market and farmers will suffer. “The prime minister has tried to justify wrong decisions. We do not agree with him,” Acharia told IANS.
Congress spokesperson Raashid Alvi said that prime minister had clarified all misunderstanding created by opposition and explained each and every issue.
“The prime minister has explained and clarified the circumstances for hike in price of diesel,” Alvi told IANS.
Asked about the prime minister’s contention that much of diesel was used by big cars and SUVs owned by rich and by factories and business, he said had raised the question about the well off sections getting benefits of subsidies.
Alvi also justified prime minister’s remarks that money does not grow on trees and said he was referring to budget of an individual and the government. “He has used common man’s language to explain to the common man,” he said.
On the prime minister justifying cap of six on subsidised cooking gas cylinders, Alvi said the government had done its estimations before making the announcement. He said the poor man still does not use cooking gas on a large scale.