Members of India's opposition parties walked out of the Lower House of Indian Parliament when the finance minister announced the budget on Friday.

The move came in the wake of announcement of a hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel by one rupee.

The issue united all the opposition parties, who then addressed a joint press conference outside Parliament House.

One opposition party leader says the increase in petrol and diesel price will have "cascading effect" on all commodities, especially food items.

[Sushma Swaraj, BJP Leader, Lower House]:
“The prices of diesel and petrol serve the purpose of indirect tax, and it has a cascading effect on everything because even food items are brought through transportation, and when the prices of transportation is increased the prices of food items go up. Yesterday, the Finance Minister had denied that prices are increasing.”

Another leader says this would cause more trouble for the common people.

[Sharad Yadav, Janata Dal Party Chief]:
"The budget of the finance minister is not a budget for the common people. This will only lead to more trouble for them as they are reeling under price rise. That is why today all the opposition parties came together and boycotted this budget."

Other opposition leaders called for a protest against the move.

The hike in excise duty would increase the petrol prices by 2.67 rupees per liter and diesel prices by 2.58 rupees per liter.