Transport minister Madan Mitra on Wednesday ruled out any hike in taxi and bus fares for now, reneging on a promise he had made to cabbies three days ago that he would request the chief minister to raise the taxi fare.

“No. No. No. There is no question of increasing the taxi and bus fares at this juncture. The price of diesel has come down. So there is no question of any fare hike at this juncture,” Mitra said on the sidelines of an event at Netaji Indoor Stadium, where he unveiled two Wi-fi enabled Volvo buses.

The drop in the diesel price had been announced before Mitra promised a gathering of taxi drivers on Sunday that he would request Mamata Banerjee to review her decision to not increase the taxi fare.

Till October 18, diesel was sold at Rs 63.81 a litre. It came down to Rs 60.3 a litre on October 19 and last Saturday, the price was further reduced to Rs 57.49.

The last time Calcutta had bought diesel this cheap was exactly a year ago.

When the taxi fare was last revised on October 31, 2012, the diesel price was Rs 50.78 a litre.

“Please don’t think I am unaware of your plight and what you are going through. I know what your demand is. I think taxi fares should be increased,” Mitra had said while addressing 500-odd taxi drivers from the Trinamul Congress-backed Progressive Taximen’s Union on Sunday.

But on Wednesday he was speaking to a different audience and in a different tone.

“We cannot put extra burden on the common people as the price of the diesel has come down,” Mitra said.

Transport department sources said Mitra had made the promise on Sunday as president of Progressive Taximen’s Union, whose members have increasingly been turning against the minister for his inability to ensure a fare hike.

Even at Sunday’s meeting, several drivers were heard shouting “Madan Mitra murdabad” and “Trinamul Congress murdabad” after it became apparent that Mitra could not allow a fare hike without the chief minister’s nod.

“Today he could afford to sing a different tune as there were no taxi drivers around and he attended the event as transport minister,” said an official of the transport department.

“Mitra was under a lot of pressure from the members of his own union, many of whom were found participating in rallies called by Left-backed unions to press for a fare hike and other demands. So he had to make a promise to calm them down for the time being. But on Wednesday he was under no such compulsion,” the official said.

Mitra’s volte-face hardly surprised taxi drivers. “We no longer have any faith in him. Even when he was promising to look into our demands last Sunday, we knew he was trying to fool us. We will soon meet our leaders and decide our course of action,” said Arjun Shaw, a driver from Bhowanipore, who had attended Mitra’s meeting last Sunday.

Bimal Guha, the president of the Bengal Taxi Association, said they would soon call a meeting of all unions.

The slash in the price of diesel has robbed the unions of an opportunity to step up their agitation after Kali Puja.

In September, the Left-backed unions had called an “indefinite” taxi strike to press for a fake hike and other demands, such as scrapping of a fine of Rs 3,000 slapped on drivers for refusing passengers. The “indefinite” strike continued for five days.

The unions, while calling off the strike, said they would step up their agitation after Kali Puja.

“This may not be the right time to call another strike as the price of diesel has come down. We will have to wait for another spike in the price before we can resume our agitation,” said a Citu leader.

Murder cuffs

Subrata Chatterjee, 40, a jute mill worker, was arrested in Belur on Wednesday for allegedly killing his newborn daughter. The girl was born on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, Subrata’s wife filed a complaint alleging that her husband had throttled the newborn. Police found the body near a burning ghat.