Rahul Gandhi slams government over rising fuel prices

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a dig at the government over the increasing prices of petrol and diesel, alleging that there was “destruction for all” and development of “rising prices”. Tagging a media report which claimed that if the government had not hiked taxes, petrol would have been Rs 66 per litre and diesel would have been Rs 55 per litre, Gandhi alleged that the government was indulging in “tax extortion”.

“‘Sabka vinash, mehengaai ka vikas’ (destruction for all, development of rising prices),” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi using the hashtag ‘TaxExtortion’.

Petrol and diesel prices on Sunday were hiked again by 35 paise a litre. The fourth straight day of 35 paise per litre hike sent petrol and diesel rates to record highs across the country.

The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 105.84 a litre and Rs 111.77 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

In Mumbai, diesel now comes for Rs 102.52 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs Rs 94.57.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also attacked the government over rising prices, saying the BJP has hiked NPK (fertiliser) price by Rs 275 and NP (fertiliser) price by Rs 20.

“With daily hikes, the government has made the diesel prices cross Rs 100. Under the BJP rule, workers and farmers are reeling under the burden of rising prices, while only Modi’s friends are getting richer,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.