Cong- called bandh over costly petrol, diesel today

The Opposition Congress and its allies would organise a nationwide bandh on Monday over rising fuel prices and falling value of rupee. On the eve of the protest, the Congress asked its workers to refrain from violent protests and maintain peace.

“I appeal to all Congress workers to make the bandh violencefree. We are Mahatma Gandhi’s party and we should not associate ourselves with any violence,” Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken told the media.

The Congress claims that 21 Opposition parties are supporting the Bharat Bandh that would be observed between 10 am and 3 pm.

One of the chief demands of the Congress is that petrol and diesel should be brought under GST, by which oil prices could drop by about ` 15 to ` 18.

According to the price notification issued by state fuel retailers, petrol price was raised by 12 paise a litre and diesel by 10 paise a litre on Sunday, taking their prices to a record high.

With the talks on forging an alliance with the BSP in the yearend Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh making no headway, the Congress is planning to influence Mayawati’s party with an offer to fund its poll expenses.

A central Congress leader privy to the development disclosed to this newspaper on Sunday that his party was considering throwing the bait of opening its purses for the BSP to make the BSP supremo Ms Mayawati agree to seal alliance between the two parties for the MP polls.

“There has hardly been any progress so far in the ongoing talks between Congress and BSP that began two months ago. MP Pradesh Congress Committee ( PCC) president Kamal Nath has been entrusted to negotiate with BSP for the poll tieup in MP on behalf of Congress,” he said.

Sources revealed that the alliance talks had hit a roadblock following insistence by BSP and its new found ally SP to link their tie- up in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan with Uttar Pradesh.

“BSP and SP have been demanding Congress to leave more seats for them in the poll- bound states of MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan if Congress wanted to have any truck with them in the 2019 parliamentary polls in Uttar Pradesh.

But, Congress was not willing to succumb to their pressure tactics,” sources said.

In fact, Mr Nath has sounded a warning that his party was ready to go alone in forthcoming Assembly elections in MP if the alliance with BSP did not materialise.

Sources however indicated that Congress was considering making an offer of funding poll expenses of BSP to bring the party back to the negotiation table.

In another development, BSP has decided to go for internal mobilisation of funds to fight the polls.

◗ MP Pradesh Congress Committee president Kamal Nath has been entrusted to negotiate with BSP for the poll tie- up, the source said