'Don't ridicule my sensitivity,' FM tells Oppn lawmakers

New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) The usually even-tempered India's
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was Wednesday provoked into
warning the Opposition lawmakers against ridiculing his
sensitivity during a debate on inflation.
"I am from a village... I studied under a kerosene lamp
till my 10th class... commuted to school by walking, in
today's terminology, 10 km everyday. Don't ridicule my
sensitivity," said Mukherjee with folded hands when the
Opposition members claimed that the Centre was trying to blame
the states for price rise.
Born in Mirati village in Birbhum district in east Indian
state of West Bengal, Mukherjee sought to know what according
to the Opposition was sensitivity - raising kerosene prices
from Rs 2 a litre to Rs 9 per litre (during the NDA regime) or
increasing the prices from Rs 9 a litre to Rs 12 per litre?
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in June
raised prices of kerosene by Rs 3 a litre, cooking gas by Rs
35 a cylinder and diesel by Rs a litre, besides freeing petrol
prices from government control that made the fuel costlier by
Rs 3 a litre.
Mukherjee was replying to the discussion on the Motion on
Inflationary pressure on the economy. PTI KM
MRD