NEW DELHI: Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi led his party’s attack on the fuel excise duty reduction, saying that the government should end fooling the people. Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh and former union minister P Chidambaram joined Rahul in slamming the government’s Saturday decision. In the midst of the slugfest, NDA ally and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lauded the Centre for the reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel and hinted that his government might do its bit after due deliberations, raising hopes of further relief.
In a tweet, Rahul compared petrol prices between May 1, 2020 and now, and said the “government must stop fooling citizens”. “Petrol Prices ‘ May 1, 2020: Rs 69.5, Mar 1, 2022: Rs 95.4, May 1, 2022: Rs 105.4, May 22, 2022: Rs 96.7. Now, expect Petrol to see ‘Vikas’ in daily doses of Rs 0.8 and Rs 0.3 again,” he tweeted. “Govt must stop fooling citizens. People deserve genuine relief from record inflation.”
At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh accused the Modi government of being “high on political gimmick” and low on relief. “The BJP government’s cluelessness about the economy and financial management has been out in the open for long now. Instead of accepting it and seeking guidance from experts, the BJP only resorts to trickery to create an optical delusion,” Vallabh alleged.
“The FM announced a reduction of Rs. 8 per litre on petrol and Rs. 6 per litre in Central Excise. While it may seem a significant reduction in absolute terms, the point of contention doesn’t change,” he argued, citing figures of Rs 9.48 excise duty in 2014 and Rs. 19.9 in May 2022. “Three steps forward and two steps back doesn’t mean it leads to any improvement in the lives of the common people.”