New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today as the government grappled with the situation arising out of protests against the petrol price hike and demands from UPA allies like Trinamool Congress, DMK and NCP for a rollback.
With the opposition also training its guns on the government on the issue, the Prime Minister also presided over a meeting of the Congress Core Group hours after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) asked the government to find a way out so as to ameliorate the impact of the hike on the common man.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, recuperating after a surgery last month, was not present at the meeting which was attended by senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, P Chidambaram and Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who is not a member of the Core Group, was also invited for the meeting that lasted for 50 minutes.
There was no official word on what transpired in Gandhi's meeting with the Prime Minister or at the Core Group.
At the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said, "the party is concerned very much. A way out should be found and we are sure the government will do it".
Mr Alvi at the same time said the hike was "inevitable" as it has been carried out by oil marketing companies on the principle of 'no-profit-no-loss'.
The Congress spokesperson, however, refused to comment when asked about the opposition from UPA's allies to the price hike and their demand for a rollback.
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