Lucknow, Feb 26 (IANS) Terming the union budget as 'anti-people', Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said Friday that the hike in prices of petrol and diesel would ultimately lead to rise in prices of all essential commodities.

In a statement issued here late evening, Mayawati expressed disappointment at the budget, terming it as 'directionless and inflationary, reflecting no concern for the common man'.

She said, 'The hike in the prices of petrol, diesel, fertiliser, cement and steel would cause inflation and it would directly affect the poor, farmers, labourers and the common man.'

According to her, 'by relaxing and simplifying the procedure of foreign capital investment, the government was giving the foreign investors a field day to make inexplicable profit in the open market of the country.' She felt, 'this would directly hamper the growth of our own industry.'

While terming the budget as 'pro-capitalist', she said, 'the Budget did not have anything for the social sector and poor people living in rural and urban areas.'

She wondered why fuel prices had been jacked up when the UPA government was busy proclaiming that new explorations of oil and gas made by the private oil companies had contributed in the oil and gas production by more than 3.67 crore metric tonnes.

Mayawati sought to know why the union government had failed to initiate any steps to curb the already sky-rocketing prices in the country?