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Leaders of 13 political parties, constituting the Third Front, have decided to take on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance on the price rise on April 27. They have called for a nationwide general strike on the same day. "The aim of the cut motions is to exert pressure on the government to roll back the hikes it has announced in the budget which has led to rising prices. We are not concerned if it destabilises the government. We will build pressure inside the parliament through cut motions and outside parliament through strikes," said Sitaram Yechury, politburo member of CPI-M. He said cut motions would be moved when the Demands for Grants of the Finance Ministry is placed before the House. The proposed strike is more than a political movement and to this end they would mobilise the masses to make it a success. "This is not only a parliament-oriented movement; this is a people's movement. Therefore it is not only by having a demonstration in Delhi that you can bring .... We want people to come out in the street throughout the country as a beginning of a people's movement to be led by all these parties," said Gurudas Dasgupta, senior CPI leader. BJP spokesperson Gopinath Munde said the whole opposition is united against price rise and the hikes announced in the Budget. Rising inflation has put the Congress-led ruling coalition on the back foot, forcing it to defer key economic reforms, including market-determined fuel prices, as it takes on an emboldened opposition in the Parliament. The inflation in March, incidentally the strongest since October 2008, reflected a sharp rise in price this year, which prompted the Reserve Bank of India to raise interest rates for the first time since the global downturn.

Third Front says will take on UPA Government on price rise