New Delhi: The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government today (Dec 8, 2004) came in for an attack in the Rajya Sabha in the manner in which petro product prices were being hiked with Left parties charging it with ad hocism in determining import parity price and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) flaying it for not trying to evolve a political consensus on the sensitive issue.

Calling the attention of the Government on the exorbitant price of petro products, CPM (Communist Party of India Marxist) member Dipankar Mukherjee said that the system of determining import parity prices was wrong.

The basis of fixing the import parity prices was not done scientifically and it has been ad hoc, Mukherjee said adding there was a suspicion that it was specifically done to benefit the biggest refinery of the country.

Former Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that if the UPA Government had evolved a political consensus on a mechanism to deal with surging global oil prices, then it would have been easier for it to handle the situation.

Sinha did not subscribe to the CPM's view that the UPA Government had inherited the problem partly as the previous NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government had slept over surging crude oil prices in view of impending elections.

To the demand of Left parties to further reduce the taxes on petro products so as not to pass on fully the burden of the hike Sinha wondered whether West Bengal could completely abolish the Sales Tax on petro products.

"Will he (Dipankar) recommend to the State Government and set an example for others", he asked.