It’s oil firms’ decision to hike petrol price: FM

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today shrugged off the government's responsibility over the hike in petrol prices, saying that petrol was a deregulated commodity. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) reacted sharply to the hike, saying that they would stage protests until the hike was rolled back. Meanwhile, markets were closed in Thiruvananthapuram as the CPI-M led Left Democratic Front (LDF) called for a twelve hour strike to protest against the price hike. While local residents were critical of the price hike, they spoke against actions that threw their daily lives out of gear.