GUWAHATI: Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday came down heavily on the Narendra Modi-led central government over the price rise of essential commodities, claiming that the party was using its "electoral victory as a license to loot the nation and its people".
Addressing a press meet here as part of his party's nationwide campaign against price rise, the senior Congress leader alleged that the Centre was not taking any step to check the spiralling rates.
The government gives "price rise in petrol and diesel as gift" to people every morning, he quipped.
Prices of petrol and diesel have gone up by Rs 10 per litre across India in 16 days.
The veteran leader also stated that "There has been a 531 per cent excise duty hike on diesel and 203 per cent on petrol since the BJP-led NDA assumed power in 2014."
"The Modi government has accrued Rs 26 lakh crore in eight years by increasing excise duty on petrol and diesel alone," he claimed.
The increase in the price of cooking gas and hike in toll tax on national highways were burning a hole in people's pockets, he maintained.
"The Modi government has not spared patients too. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced a hike of 10.76 per cent in prices of around 800 essential drugs from April 1," he pointed out.
Khurshid also noted that housing prices and construction costs have gone up, while additional tax deduction on home loan for first-time buyers has been abolished.
"There is no sphere where prices have not increased. The Modi government remains responsible for this theft. The party has used its electoral victory as a license to loot the nation and its people," the senior Congress leader added.