As the retail price of petrol crossed ₹100 in several cities, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday called it a ‘tax collection epidemic’ by the Central government.
“The process of unlocking has started in many States. While paying the bill at the petrol pump, you will see the growth in inflation by the Modi government. The waves of tax collection epidemic are coming continuously,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
His colleague and party general secretary Randeep Surjewala also termed the rise in petrol prices as an ‘excessive public loot’ and blamed the Modi government for it.
“Excessive public loot — in the last 13 months, petrol and diesel have risen by ₹25.72 and ₹23.93 per litre. In some States, petrol has crossed ₹100 per litre. The increase in taxes by the Modi government and not high crude oil price is responsible for this rise in petrol and diesel prices,” Mr. Surjewala tweeted.
The Congress has been regularly criticising the imposition of special excise duty on petroleum products by the Modi government and has argued for bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of good and services tax (GST) regime.
