Rahul Gandhi says Centre 'fooling people' after cut in excise duty on petrol & diesel

After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government announced a reduction in the excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi launched fresh salvos against the Union government, stating that the government is fooling people.

Taking on his Twitter, Rahul Gandhi compared the old rates of petrol from the year 2020 with the current rate, indicating that no relief has been given by the government to the people. "Petrol Prices May 1, 2020: ₹69.5; Mar 1, 2022: ₹95.4; May 1, 2022: ₹105.4; May 22, 2022: ₹96.7. Now, expect Petrol to see ‘Vikas’ in daily doses of ₹0.8 and ₹0.3 again (sic)," Gandhi said in his tweet on Sunday. He further attacked the Central government and accused them of fooling people over fuel prices.

"Government must stop fooling citizens. People deserve genuine relief from record inflation," Gandhi said.

'Centre using jugglery of figures to dupe the people': Congress

Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday expressed his reservations about the Centre's move to slash fuel prices, saying that it "won't be enough" to alleviate the pain of the public. Breaking down the Excise Duty figures during the pre and post-NDA era, Surjewala alleged that the Centre was just 'juggling figures' to dupe the people.

"U increased Excise on Diesel by ₹18.24/litre and now reduced it by ₹6/litre. It is still ₹15.80 V/S ₹3.56 during Congress (sic)," said the Congress leader.

Urging the government to display 'courage', he demanded the rollback of excise on petrol and diesel to May 2014 levels. "Stop deceiving, Show the courage to give relief," said the Congress leader. 

Centre slashes price of petrol & diesel

In a big relief for the people of India, the Union Government has slashed the Central Excise duty on petrol by ₹ 8 per litre and on diesel by ₹ 6 per litre on Saturday. Taking to Twitter, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the decision had been taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi specifically asked all arms of the government to work with sensitivity and give relief to the common man. 

"Keeping in line with @PMOIndia @narendramodi ‘s commitment to help the poor & common man, TODAY, we are announcing more steps to help our people," said the Finance Minister. 

"We are reducing the Central excise duty on Petrol by ₹8 per litre and on Diesel by ₹ 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by ₹9.5 per litre and of Diesel by ₹7 per litre. It will have revenue implication of around ₹1 lakh crore/year for the government," she added.