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As fuel prices rise again, Shiv Sena MP has a request for Election Commission
The prices of petrol and diesel had remained stable for over four-and-a-half months when political parties were holding high-voltage poll campaign for the recently-concluded assembly elections.
Taking a dig at the continued rise in fuel prices after months-long hiatus, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi requested the Election Commission to announce the schedule of upcoming state elections immediately. The Rajya Sabha member said that such an announcement will move fuel price from “deregulation to regulation mode” and bring relief to Indians hit by soaring prices.
India saw another 80-paisa hike in petrol and diesel prices, the fourth in the last five days. The fuel prices had remained stable for over four-and-a-half months when political parties were intensifying their poll campaign for the recently-concluded assembly elections in five states. The state-owned oil companies increased the fuel prices 12 days after the results of the assembly elections were announced.
“Requesting Election Commission to please announce the schedule for upcoming state elections immediately, it will automatically move fuel price from deregulation to regulation mode& bring relief to Indians from soaring prices. Elections=No fuel price rise” Chaturvedi wrote on Twitter.
On Friday, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman rejected the allegations against the government that the hike in fuel prices was linked to the conclusion of assembly elections. She cited the Ukraine-Russia war, which started over a month ago, as a reason for the rise in fuel prices.
"Even in 1951, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru could say that a Korean war can affect Indian inflation...But if today in a globally connected world, we say that Ukraine (war) is affecting us, it is not accepted," Sitharaman told Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on the Finance Bill.
"We have not brought in extra burden. The global situation, a war-like situation is not a time when we are looking at racing. It has nothing to do with election time. If the oil market companies think that they are procuring a 15-day average at a higher rate, obviously we will have to bear."
