Bhubaneswar, June 20: The Biju Janata Dal, which had publicly announced that it would have a “positive approach” towards the BJP-led NDA government, today finds itself in a catch-22 situation following the unexpected hike in passenger fares and freight charges by the railways.

Though chief minister Naveen Patnaik described the hike as “anti-middle class and anti-poor,” his party, which used to organise street demonstrations on such issues in the past, has refrained from announcing any protest meet this time.

The state government is also on the back foot on the issue of diesel and petrol price rise having raised VAT on these items from 18 to 20 per cent earlier this week. The hike, announced during the presentation of budget in the state Assembly, has spurred the demand for a revision in bus fares.

“This is going to be a real test for the chief minister who gave a twist to his long-standing policy of maintaining equi-distance from both the BJP and the Congress by stating that his government will adopt a positive approach towards the Modi regime,” said a political observer.

In a statement today, Naveen said: “The hike across the board is going to affect passengers at large, particularly poor people travelling in sleeper class. The increase in freight charges will further aggravate inflation and lead to price rise affecting the people at large.”

State Congress chief Jaydev Jena described the move as NDA’s “return gift” to the people for the “massive mandate” they had given to Modi a month ago. He said his party would take to streets if the hike was not withdrawn.

The Left parties, too, demanded immediate rollback of the hike threatening a rail roko agitation. CPM state secretary Janardan Pati said the rail fare revision had dashed the high expectations people had from Modi government.

“We have called upon our district units to stage demonstrations at railway stations,” he said. CPI national council member Ramakrushna Panda said the rail fare and freight revision would further burden the people who are already saddled with inflation and rise in the price of essential commodities.

The BJP, on the other hand, defended the fare revision. State BJP president K.V. Singh Deo said: “The UPA government has left behind empty coffers. Since there is an urgent need to execute railway projects, the new government has been forced to resort to hike.”

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