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Fuel price reduction: Opposition questions government’s move, overall handling
Two days after the prices of petrol and diesel were slashed, various Opposition parties slammed the government, questioning its intention and its overall position on handling fuel prices in the long run
Opposition parties slammed the government on Friday, questioning its intention and its overall position on handling fuel prices in the long run, two days after the Centre slashed the prices of petrol and diesel.
The Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday posted a scathing tweet in Hindi, alleging that the Haryana government was conning the public by reducing value added tax (VAT) on petrol while increasing it on diesel. “Have a look at what the ‘loot jeevi’ Khattar-Dushyant government is up to. In Haryana, the VAT on petrol has been reduced by ₹1.12 and it has been raised on diesel by ₹1.78. The people of the state know these lies and understand them. Shame on such an anti-people government,” Surjewala tweeted, also sharing the notification issued by the excise department.
Also Read: Gehlot urges Centre to reduce excise duty further on petrol, diesel
On Wednesday, a day before the country celebrated Diwali, the Centre slashed excise duty by ₹5/litre on petrol and by ₹10/litre on diesel. The move was followed by several states cutting VAT.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien also took a jibe at government’s latest move. He posted a wordplay of a famous quote from former US president Abraham Lincoln, switching “fool” with “fuel”. The TMC leader wrote, “You can fuel all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fuel all the people all the time.”
He shared a graph comparing the prices of crude oil, petrol and diesel in January 2014 and November 2021.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut criticised the reduction in petrol price by ₹5 as too little, arguing that the Centre should have reduced it by “at least ₹25 per litre to provide relief to people… They (Centre) realised that prices need to be slashed after they lost the bypolls”.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia reacted to the criticisms, saying, “The Centre along with the BJP-led states, took the initiative of reducing VAT on fuel prices for the common people. So why isn’t the Congress doing the same in their ruling states? Why can’t Congress, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal ji take a bold step like us?”
“While the public received our decision joyously, the Opposition parties - Congress, AAP, TMC - opposed our decision and politicised it for their own benefit,” Bhatia said.
