Opposition parties on Monday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government after state-run oil marketing companies announced the fourth increase in petrol and diesel prices in ten days, pushing petrol in Delhi higher.102.12 per liter”> $102.12 per liter and diesel to $95.20 per litre.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of “looting the public’s profits in batches” and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “inflation man.”
“BJP’s appetite is not satisfied even after imposition of central tax on $1000 crores per day on petrol and diesel. “When world prices were low, they did not pass on the benefits to the people, and instead, they plundered them relentlessly.”
The recurring increases come against the backdrop of rising global crude oil prices, with India’s basket of crude oil imports rising to around $113-114 per barrel from around $69 per barrel in February, driven by the Iranian conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
India kept retail petrol and diesel prices largely unchanged for about four years before the recent revisions.
Opposition leaders from across parties alleged that the government deliberately obstructed the increases through assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and let them go as soon as the polls ended.
“They are raising petrol and diesel prices in instalments, so that your pockets continue to be quietly depleted,” Gandhi wrote in his X post. “The moment the elections ended, petrol and diesel prices were hiked by… $8. This rise will continue to occur. Modi’s only inflation man job is this, promises during elections, and the rest of the time, attacks on the pockets of the public.
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Karg said that gasoline in Delhi has reached a level $71.41 per liter when the BJP came to power in 2014 and now stands at $102.12, an increase of 43.01%, while diesel moved from $56.71 L $95.20 per liter, a jump of 67.87%.
He further alleged that the Modi government “looted $43 lakh crore in the last 12 years, making it a loot $1000 every day,” he noted, “HPCL shares [Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited]BBCCL [Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited] “Indian oil rose 5.8%, 4.44% and 3.90% respectively” on the fourth rally day. “Profit before people is the DNA of the BJP,” he wrote.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on May 15 posted on X an illustration of himself riding a bicycle with the caption: “If one has to move forward, bicycle is the only option.”
Arvind Kejriwal, coordinator of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), wrote on X: “Oil prices have risen again. However, we are still not buying cheap oil from Russia and Iran. What is this coercion by Mr. Modi?”
Kejriwal urged the government to buy oil and gas from Russia and Iran at cheaper prices, saying the people of the country need relief from fuel shortages and high costs.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that while many countries have seen petrol and diesel price increases ranging from “20% to nearly 100%” in the wake of the conflict in West Asia, “India has limited the rise to just 3.2% for petrol and 3.4% for diesel”, and that public sector oil companies in India have been bearing huge losses for weeks to protect citizens from inflation and economic pressures.
The BJP-led central government is yet to officially respond to the tax collection figures mentioned by Karg and Gandhi.
The cumulative increase was this month $7.35 per liter of gasoline $7.53 per liter diesel.
The Congress has long demanded that petroleum products be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework, arguing that it would limit the Centre’s ability to levy uncontrolled excise duty, a demand postponed by successive GST councils.
With oil marketing companies pointing to continued uncertainty over supplies, opposition parties indicated that the issue of fuel prices would remain central to their campaign against the government.
