Congress demands slashing of petrol, diesel, LPG prices to provide relief to people in festive season

The Congress on Thursday hit out at the Modi government over soaring prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, and demanded that the rates be reduced to provide relief to the common people in the festive season. Congress leader Alka Lamba said petrol and diesel prices have been rising almost everyday for the past few days and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reduce the prices daily in the next nine days of Navratri festival.

The reduction, she said, will come as a relief to the common people and please the goddess.

She said from September 24 till Thursday, petrol and diesel prices have been raised nine times.

The Congress leader said petrol is at Rs 103.24 per litre and its price has been raised everyday since September 27 and that of diesel, which selling at Rs 91.77 per litre, has been raised everyday since September 23.

The Ministry of Petroleum data shows crude oil is USD 80.75 per barrel, whereas the price was USD 140 per barrel during the Congress regime and still the retail rates of petrol and diesel were lower then than it is today.

She said an LPG cylinder is now costing over Rs 1,000 in many states and added that the women are the hardest hit by it as their home budgets have been destabilised.

She also alleged that the fuel subsidy granted by the Modi government was a mere Rs 108 crore in the first quarter of 2021-22.

“The prime minister went to Lucknow and gave homework to lit 19 lakh lamps on Diwali to please Lord Ram, but oil is now crossing Rs 200 per litre. Is it not a crude joke with the people of the country?

“We want the prime minister to decrease the prices of LPG, petrol and diesel everyday for the next nine days during Navratri to please the goddesses,” Lamba said.

She claimed that the government has earned as much as Rs 24 lakh crore from petrol and diesel. “But where has all this money gone,” the Congress leader asked.