NEW DELHI: Demanding an immediate rollback of the recent increase in petrol and diesel prices, Left parties on Tuesday warned they would continue their nationwide protests if the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre failed to act on their demand.

Addressing a protest rally at Jantar Mantar here, senior Left leaders described the increase in fuel prices as "highly unjustified" and lashed out at the Centre for not paying heed to their concerns and demands. Later, they courted arrest along with party workers.

Leaders and workers of six parties -- Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, All-India Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Janata Dal (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Dal -- took part in the rally that was addressed by the general secretaries of the CPI (M), the CPI and the Forward Bloc, Prakash Karat, A.B. Bardhan and Debabrata Biswas and the RSP leader, Abani Roy. CPI (M)'s Sitaram Yechuri also took part.

Criticising the Centre for not reducing the customs and excise duties on fuel, Mr. Karat said the repeated price hike was putting an undue burden on the common man. "We have taken up the matter with the Centre and demanded reduction in the Central cess on petroleum products. Since the Government is not listening to us, we have no option but to protest on the streets," he asserted.

He said that reducing the Central taxes on fuel would help tackle the issue of escalating international crude prices. "Almost 57 per cent of the price on one litre of petrol is the Central cess, while the State Government's tax is relatively small. We will not accept a reduction in the State Government's tax while leaving the Central cess untouched." Mr. Karat asked the Centre to consider its suggestion to convert the Rs.1,25,000-crore oil cess fund into a price stabilisation fund so that the entire burden of global crude price hike was not passed on to consumers.

Expressing concern over the spiralling prices of essential commodities, Mr. Bardhan said the price hike was one of the main reasons for this.

"The UPA Government seems blind to the plight of the common man who has to bear the brunt of the hike in fuel prices. Similarly, farmers' woes have also gone unnoticed. On the one hand, the Government says it is granting subsidies, on the other, it is escalating the prices."

Describing the protests by the National Democratic Alliance on the issue as a "gimmick", he flayed it for not reducing the cess on fuel while in power.

Mr. Biswas said that farmers were dying and the poor were burdened of increasing prices of essential commodities, but the Government was trying to justify the rise. "The Government has not paid any attention to the suggestions made by the Standing Committee in Parliament to check the escalation in fuel prices," he said.

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