Aware of the fact that the issue could be used by the CPM against her, she has asked her party leaders to hold rallies and street-corner meetings but not directly attack the Congress-led UPA since she is a part of it.

The matter was discussed at the core committee meeting of Trinamool Congress today at Trinamool Bhavan, during which Banerjee also asked her district leaders to prepare a blueprint for the upcoming municipal elections.

Unlike earlier, the Trinamool chief today refused to hold a press conference after the core committee meeting but party sources said the issue was discussed at length within the party.

“This is an important issue. The CPM will use the issue of petroleum price hike against us since we are the second largest ally of the UPA. Our leader has, therefore, asked us to explain our stand to the people,” said a senior Trinamool leader who was present at the meeting.

“We must handle the situation in a balanced manner. On the one hand, people should know we are against such hikes and on the other, we should not strain our relations with the UPA,” the senior leader added.

Recently, Banerjee had said she was all for a rollback of the hike and that she had written letters to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the same.