Mumbai, May 16 (IANS) "People have been stabbed in the back by the Congress," Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said Monday in response to the move by oil companies to hike petrol prices by Rs.5 per litre.

In a front-page statement in party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray said the Congress lobbed the price hike bomb on the people as soon as the results of state elections were announced.

"Now, gas and kerosene prices will also go up," Thackeray said.

Blasting the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Thackeray said the common man's life has become "intolerable" under the Congress, which waited for the outcome of the state elections before dropping the "inflation bomb".

"I feel that the end of the Congress is near after pushing the country to such a terrible situation. The Congress will be reduced to ashes," he said.

The Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other organisations held rallies across Maharashtra Monday to protest against the petrol price hike.

The two parties took out processions of pairs of bullocks pulling cars and motorcycles in Pune, Nashik, Sangli, Aurangabad, Nagpur and other cities.

The BJP held a bicycle rally in Kandivli and other suburbs and parts of Mumbai.

In the steepest single hike so far, petrol price was raised by Rs.5 per litre with effect from Saturday midnight.