NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at the Centre over rising prices of petrol and diesel and said the government is playing a "cruel joke" on the public.
Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday were hiked by 35 paise per litre each, the second consecutive day of increase that took pump rates across the country to record high levels.
Slamming the government, Gandhi tweeted, "GOI is playing a cruel joke on our public."
He used the hashtag 'TaxExtortion' and shared a social media post which said that a new word -- Fillionaire (One who cannot afford a full tank in India) -- has been coined, courtesy "Modi government's fuel loot".
The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 106.54 a litre and Rs 112.44 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
In Mumbai, diesel now comes for Rs 103.26 a litre, while in Delhi it costs Rs 95.27 per litre.
This is the second consecutive day of price hike.
There was no change in rates on October 18 and 19, prior to which prices were hiked by 35 paise per litre each on four straight days.
While petrol has already hit the Rs 100-a-litre mark or more in all major cities of the country, diesel has touched that level in over a dozen states and is treading towards that mark in places from Srinagar to Chennai.
Diesel costs Rs 99.14 a litre in Srinagar while it is priced at Rs 99.59 in Chennai.