With petrol and diesel prices rising for the ninth consecutive day on Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress both hit out against the BJP government.
Addressing a press conference, AAP spokesperson Dilip Pandey said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had waited for voting in the Karnataka Assembly elections to finish before hiking fuel prices. He added that there was no hike in prices in the 20 days during the election process.
Questions govt
Mr. Pandey said that in 2014, the central excise duty on petroleum products was ₹9.20 per litre, but when the BJP came to power, it was increased to ₹19.48 per litre over the next two years.
Who had benefited from the hike in fuel prices and why had the government not reduced prices when the crude oil prices were falling in the international market, he asked the Centre. He also posed the question as to how would the government control the situation.
The Congress, too, raised the issue on Tuesday, with leaders and workers cycling down Rajpath in protest against the hike. While addressing the protesters, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said that not only were common people affected by the price hike directly, but prices of essential commodities too had increased.
Criticises policies
He added that when the Congress was in power, a litre of petrol and diesel cost ₹63.09 and ₹49.69 per litre respectively, as on May 23, 2013.
As of Monday, the prices were ₹76.57 and ₹67.82 per litre of petrol and diesel respectively, he said, adding that the Modi government had been enacting policies that hurt the poor.
