Local Congress president Pardeep Chhabra on Saturday criticised member of Parliament Kirron Kher for her "failure to protect the interests of the city residents".
In a statement, Chhabra said the decision of the BJP-led Central government to increase value added tax (VAT) on diesel by over 7% had exposed it, and has also shown the hypocrisy of Kher, who had earlier opposed the VAT hike.
"What happened in these eight months that Kher is now supporting the hike in VAT on diesel? Her motive raises suspicion," said Chhbara.
"We can't understand whether she is representing people of Chandigarh or Punjab in the Parliament," he said, adding that there was no need for the administration to increase VAT on diesel to such an "unprecedented scale" as Chandigarh was already a revenue surplus state.
"There is no compulsion for Chandigarh to increase VAT since it is a revenue-surplus state," added Chhabra.