Chandigarh: The fuel price hike has triggered a political row in Punjab, with the Congress accusing the BJP-led Centre of burdening people already hit by inflation.Targeting the Centre, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the govt first advises citizens to “use fewer cars”, then launches public relations campaigns showcasing smaller Prime Ministerial convoys, and has now quietly increased petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre.“Was this the real script behind the drama?” Warring asked.He alleged that the hike would directly impact farmers, truck operators and middle-class families, while also pushing up prices of essential commodities. “The truth is simple, BJP doesn’t reduce inflation, it manages headlines. ‘Abki Baar, Petrol Rs 100 Paar’,” he remarked.Former Punjab deputy chief minister and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also attacked the Centre over the increase in prices of petrol, diesel, CNG and cooking gas. He alleged that amid rising tensions in West Asia and after the conclusion of elections, the govt has once again burdened people by increasing the prices of LPG, petrol and diesel, triggering another wave of inflation.Randhawa claimed that despite consistently low international crude oil prices, the Centre failed to provide relief to the public and instead continued heavy tax collection. He alleged that over the past 12 years, the govt had focused not on easing the burden on ordinary citizens, but on “emptying their pockets.”Randhawa urges Pb govt to reduce VATHe added that people suffering due to inflation, unemployment and heavy taxation had now understood “the anti-people policies of the central govt”. Randhawa urged the Punjab govt to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 each to provide relief to people.He warned that if the AAP govt failed to immediately reduce VAT, it would become clear that both the Centre and the Punjab govt were jointly burdening people with inflation. MSID:: 131118156 413 |
