By PTI
KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for soaring fuel prices, wondering whether he has “gone into hiding”.
The ruling party in West Bengal also accused the BJP of working hard to “add to the people’s woes” as the fuel prices hit a “historic high”.
However, the BJP questioned why the state government is not reducing its duties on petroleum products to bring down the prices.
“As fuel prices hit a HISTORIC HIGH, @BJP4India govt (government) seems to be working very hard towards adding to the woes of the public.
Not much has changed from 2020.
The same old blame game continues while the demands of the people of India are conveniently ignored!,” Trinamool Congress national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee tweeted.
Petrol price has crossed the Rs 100-mark per litre in metro cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune and it is over Rs 99 in Delhi and Kolkata.
Taking to Twitter, senior state minister Partha Chatterjee said, “Mr @narendramodi has a penchant for drama every time the people of India are in distress!” “Now with the skyrocketing petrol prices, why has he gone into hiding? Preparing for a big lie-laden speech Mr Prime Minister,” the state industry minister alleged.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and freight charges.
And for this reason, price of petrol has breached the Rs 100-mark per litre in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Punjab and Ladakh.
“Around June 2020, I remember petrol prices were being hiked for nearly 17 days at a stretch! Within a year, we’ve crossed Rs 100 in several cities across India.
Shri @narendramodi kindly get off your high horse & take cognizance of the woes of your people!” Bengal transport minister Firhad Hakim said on the micro-blogging site.
The Left parties also staged protests in various parts of the state against the rising fuel prices and cooking gas.
West Bengal BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said criticism will not solve the problem.
“Why isn’t the state government reducing its levies? Everyone knows how the Centre is managing the current crisis.
A joint effort from the central government and the states is required to address the issue,” he said.
He called for the inclusion of petro products under the GST regime.
