‘Panic reaction ahead of elections,’ says Congress after fuel price cut

The government announced a ₹2.50 per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices after it reduced excise duty by ₹1.50 a litre and asked oil companies to absorb another Re 1.

Shortly after the central government announced a ₹2.50 per litre cut on petrol and diesel prices, the Congress dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring the fuel prices back to the 2014 level instead of throwing a “pittance of one or two rupees” at the public.

An employee shows the revised prices of petrol and diesel to a customer at a fuel station in Mumbai. (PTI File Photo)

Addressing mediapersons in New Delhi, Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala called the cut “a panic reaction in the face of public anger” ahead of assembly polls in four states.

Pointing out that the BJP-ruled states Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan levy the highest value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products, he demanded that fuel be brought under the GST, whose tax slabs are much lower than the VAT levied in states.

Surjewala said that an RTI reply has revealed that the Modi government was selling petrol and diesel to several countries at less than half the price at which it was being sold in India. This showed that this government “is fleecing its own people.”