Roll back petrol price hike or we quit: Mamata tells UPA

Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has threatened to pull out of the ruling UPA alliance at the center if the Rs1.82-a litre hike in petrol prices announced yesterday was not immediately rolled back.

Banerjee, who was minister for railways in the UPA ministry at the centre before taking over as West Bengal chief minister, slammed the centre for failing to take coalition partners into confidence before taking decisions affecting the common man.

She wanted the government to explain why petrol prices haven't come down when the price of crude oil dropped in the international markets.

"If the hike continues we will withdraw our support," Banerjee said, adding that, as partner in the UPA Trinamool Congress is accountable to the people.

''We are highly disappointed with the Congress' policy of keeping our party out of important decisions,'' she said.

''If we can run the government in West Bengal on our own, we can manage things without Congress at the centre also,'' she said, adding, ''The price hike may not affect those at the centre but it certainly affects our people and we are responsible for that.''