In his only comment on the political developments in Madhya Pradesh, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Narendra Modi government. While it was busy bringing an elected government down, it ignored the crash in the global oil prices and was yet to pass on the benefit to consumers, he wrote on Twitter.
He pointed out that the oil prices had come down by 35%. He demanded that the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG be brought down to the pre-2004 levels and petrol price be reduced to below ₹60 a litre.
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The Congress also demanded that petrol and diesel be brought under the Goods and Services Tax.
“Hey @PMOIndia, while you were busy destabilising an elected Congress govt, you may have missed noticing the 35% crash in global oil prices. Could you please pass on the benefit to Indians by slashing #petrol prices to under 60₹ per litre? Will help boost the stalled economy,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Amplifying his comment, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the reduction of ₹2.69 and ₹2.33 was insignificant. “The Congress demands that petrol and diesel should be brought under the GST. The hike in excise duty/customs duty, effected by the Modi government since May 2014, on petroleum products should be withdrawn immediately until it is brought under the GST,” he said in a statement.
He said the fuel prices were at a 15-year low and the government must pass on the benefit to bring the economy back on track. “In dollar terms, the international crude oil prices are down to the level of November 2004, when petrol, diesel and LPG were available at ₹37.84, ₹26.28 and ₹281.60 per cylinder respectively, which were quite cheap in comparison with the present rates,” he said.
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He said that in the past six years, the government and oil marketing companies had been making huge gains. “The BJP government has looted more than ₹16 lakh crore in the last five years by levying exorbitant taxes on petrol and diesel,” he said.
The BJP government’s “ill-directed anti-people policies” were responsible for the high prices of petrol, diesel and LPG, despite crude oil consistently remaining below 50% in the last six years, he said. The Congress leader said the central excise duty had been increased over a dozen times since the BJP came to power.
