New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday lambasted the central government after India witnessed another hike in petrol and diesel rates amid global crisis. Gandhi said the Centre was increasing the rates in installments and warned this will continue for a while.
Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “Inflation Man”, whose only job is to make promises during elections and attack the public’s pockets the rest of the time.
“I’ve been warning for months about an economic storm coming,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X (formerly Twitter). “But Modi ji, as always, was busy with elections back then, and the moment elections ended, petrol-diesel was hiked by Rs 8.”
BJP hits back at Gandhi
But the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to hit back at Gandhi, with party leader national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia calling the Congress “foolish, immature, and anarchic”. Bhatia, at a press conference in New Delhi, said Gandhi is only trying to weaken the country.
“Rahul Gandhi, if your motive is to spread anarchy, we are also determined to make India stronger,” the BJP spokesperson said, while highlighting that India has effectively delt with the crisis, as the rest of the world continues to struggle due to the US-Iran war.
“For nearly 65 to 70 days, a war-like situation persisted, yet in India, petrol prices did not rise even by Rs 1. The primary reason for this was the government’s intent that no burden should fall on the common man,” he added.
Fuel price hike in India
Earlier in the day, petrol and diesel prices were increased in India by Rs 2.61 and 2.71 per litre, respectively. This was the fourth hike in less than two weeks due to rising oil prices in the international market.
With this, petrol prices stand at Rs 102.12 a litre in Delhi, at Rs 111.21 in Mumbai, at Rs 107.77 in Chennai and at Rs 113.51 in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, diesel rates stand at Rs 95.20 per litre in Delhi, at Rs 97.83 in Mumbai, at Rs 99.55 in Chennai and at Rs 99.82 in Kolkata. -(IndiaTV)
