Congress' Ahmed Patel makes stunning Karnataka election connection to fuel price hike to attack BJP

The Congress has claimed a sensational Karnataka Assembly election connection while hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led government over the hike in fuel prices that was effected on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel wrote:

"As soon as Karnataka election is over, govt has decided to increase petrol and diesel prices. They why does govt pretend that it is not interfering in determination of fuel prices? Aren't they taking the people for a ride?"

Fuel prices were hiked after 19 days on Monday with the price of Petrol getting hiked 17 paise per litre to Rs 74.80/litre and Diesel being hiked by 21 paise to Rs 66.14/litre (Delhi rates), reportedly as PSU oil firms beginning to pass down the spike in international crude rates to consumers. The latest hike has sent diesel to a record high and petrol at a 56-month peak.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had made the high fuel prices an agenda in his Karnataka poll campaign and had undertaken a bicycle rally just a week earlier at Kolar district. He has accused the BJP of passing the benefits of the low crude prices (versus the UPA's time) to their 'rich friends' rather than to the people of India.

Oil PSUs, which have been since June last year revising auto fuel prices on a daily basis to reflect changes in the cost, have kept pump rates static since April 24, an analysis of daily price notification issued by oil companies showed, as per a PTI report, which added that Oil PSUs have refused to acknowledge if the freeze followed a government diktat so as to help ruling BJP in Karnataka.

READ: Karnataka Legislative Assembly Election Results 2018 LIVE Updates & Blog