Congress' Priyanka Vadra says fuel price cut 'not from the heart'; makes 'vasooli' mention

After the Centre announced a reduction in petrol and diesel excise duty, Congress on Thursday asserted that the decision was 'made out of fear'.

Taking to her official Twitter handle, party's General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the decision was 'not from the heart,' and urged the public to give a reply to what she referred to as the 'Vasooli government' in the upcoming elections. Assembly elections in 7 states- Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh-are scheduled for 2022.  Strangely, Vadra is yet to break her silence over the extortion scandal that has arisen in Maharashtra, where the Congress is part of the ruling alliance.

Congress skeptical of Centre reducing excise duty on fuel

Earlier in the day, Congress leader KC Venugopal called the Centre's move to reduce excise duty on fuel after exorbitant cumulative increases 'an eyewash'. He accused the Centre of not letting the benefits of low international crude oil prices trickle down to the public, by increasing the excise duty, and added that his party will continue to fight against this 'daylight robbery'.

Another senior leader, Randeep Singh Surjewala uploaded a video to elaborate on the 'Jhumlanomics' of 'Modinomics'. He said that the Centre government in 2021 hiked the excise on petrol and diesel by Rs 28 and Rs 26 per litre respectively, and then respectively reduced it by Rs 5 and Rs 10 and called it 'Diwali gift'. Surjewala highlighted that in May 2014, under the Congress government, excise on petrol was Rs 9.48 and that on diesel was Rs 3.56 per litre. Giving the figures, he asked, 'When is it getting back to 2014 standards?'

On the eve of Diwali, the Centre reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel to bring down the prices of the fuels which had constantly been on a rise. "On eve of Diwali, Government of India announces excise duty reduction on petrol and diesel. Excise duty on Petrol and Diesel to be reduced by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively from tomorrow," the government said.