West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Centre saying it should call a meeting of all political parties to discuss the economic crisis in the country rather than using the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). She equated India’s economic condition with that of Sri Lanka’s, which is facing worst-ever foreign exchange crisis.
“Sri Lanka’s economic condition is bad, but India’s condition is worse than Sri Lanka’s. Fuel prices have been hiked here, the central government should call all political parties to discuss the economic crisis in our country rather than using CBI and ED,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The chief minister further said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is responsible for skyrocketing fuel prices and that the central government has no plans to tide over the crisis. In most the states, petrol and diesel prices have crossed over Rs 100-mark. Delhi has witnessed Rs 8 hike in the last two weeks.
Sri Lanka, which relies heavily on tourism income, is currently in the middle of worst economic crisis due to a number of factors including Covid which hit the tourism sector badly. The island country is going through tough times as foreign reserves have dried up. Due to this, the country has imposed import curbs on some items, leading to shortage.
Sri Lanka is facing long hours of power cuts due to shortage of diesel. Inflation too has shot up, leading to panic and unrest among the people who are now demanding resignation of current President Goatabaya Rajapaksa. The President had offered the opposition parties to come and join his Cabinet. However, two main parties have turned the offer, saying Gotabaya must resign.
