BNP on Friday demanded the withdrawal of the government’s decision to increase the price of soybean oil, alleging the move was taken to protect the interests of the ruling quarters. “After the meeting of the mill owners with the Commerce Secretary, the price of bottled soybean oil has been increased by Tk 38 per litre, and loose soybean oil by Tk 44 per litre. The government has revealed an extremely anti-mass policy through it,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. In a statement, he said the current government has proved once again that it is “the enemy of the people” by raising the prices of soybean oil.  Stating that soybean oil is now the golden deer, the BNP leader also said the disappearance of soybean oil from the market on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr and the hike in the prices of the edible oil are unprecedented incidents causing extreme public suffering. Also Read: Awami League carrying out 'totalitarian aggression': Fakhrul He bemoaned that people have been subjected to serious harassment and the lower and middle income people have been forced to pay extra money for soybean oil “in connivance” with the ruling party-affiliated business syndicates. “Soybean oil is a very important product as an edible oil.  It is an essential ingredient for cooking in every household.  So the main goal (behind the hike in soybean oil prices) is to make hundreds of crores of taka by controlling this daily essential product through the syndicates,” Fakhrul observed. He also said people will go through serious ordeals as the edible oil price has now gone beyond their purchasing capacity.  “The government has increased the price of soybean oil in the interest of its own people (ruling party leaders). The price of edible oil has not been increased in any of the neighboring countries,” the BNP leader observed. He said the government has taken such a decision as it does not care about the interests of the people. The BNP leader also said the government wants to keep the people captive by creating a frightening atmosphere through resorting to oppression and suppression. “I strongly condemn this anti-people decision to increase the price of soybean oil and demand the immediate withdrawal of the decision,” he said.