AIADMK coordinator, O. Panneerselvam on Monday, termed as unfair, the position taken by the State government on the issue of reduction of prices of petrol and diesel.
“When the Central government’s taxes are applicable all over the country and many States have come forward to decrease the prices, people regard the argument of the State government against the reduction as unfair,” Mr. Panneerselvam said in a statement.
Expressing sadness over Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan’s stand on not cutting down the fuel prices any more, Mr. Panneerselvam referred to the price cut by 25 States including Rajasthan and Punjab, where the DMK’s ally Congress was in power. He also recalled that in June 2018, M.K. Stalin, then in the Opposition, had called for reducing the prices of diesel and petrol, citing the move by the Kerala government to lower the prices of petrol and diesel by ₹ 1, even though the fuel prices in Tamil Nadu were lower than those of the neighbouring State.
Mr. Panneerselvam, who held the post of Finance Minister for most of the last 10 years, added that the DMK, at the time of Assembly election, did not stipulate any condition for its promise of reducing the prices of petrol and diesel by ₹ 5 and ₹ 4 respectively, besides knowing fully well the position on the Central taxes on the fuel.
