Using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own words to hit back at him for “continuous increase” in prices of petrol and diesel, the Congress on Wednesday called his government an “economic terrorist”.
Stating that Modi government was ripping the common man apart, the party also demanded that the prices of diesel and petrol brought down to Rs 28.85 and Rs 37.13 per litre, respectively, keeping in mind the current crude oil prices which came down to US $52.73 a barrel.
“In May 2008, when the UPA government had increased petrol and diesel prices, after four years of holding them steady, when crude oil had soared close to US $120 per barrel, Narendra Modi had described our government as an ‘economic terrorist’,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.
“He (Modi) labelled us as ‘arthik atankvadi’ because after a period of four years we had increased the prices of petrol and diesel because crude prices had gone through the roof. The shoe seems to be on the other foot today,” he added.
Since May 26, 2014, international crude oil price hovered around US $108.05 a barrel, which had now come down by over 52 per cent, Tewari pointed out.
“On September 11, 2017, crude oil prices came down to US $52.73 a barrel. The price of diesel in Mumbai was Rs 55.49 per litre in May 2014 and the price of diesel in Mumbai now is Rs 62.37 per litre.
“Similarly, the price of petrol in Mumbai in May 2014 was Rs 71.41 per litre. Today, it is Rs 79.48 per litre. At the prevailing prices of crude oil, diesel should have been at Rs 28.85 per litre and petrol at Rs 37.13 per litre,” he added.
“On April 16, 2014, the price of kerosene was Rs 14.96 per litre and on September 16, 2016, it went up to Rs 16.19 a litre.”
Similarly, the price of domestic LPG increased from Rs 414 a cylinder to Rs 466 per cylinder in Delhi and Rs 510 in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leader said.
“The under recovery for public sector companies went down from Rs 34.34 per litre to Rs 9.78 per litre between April 16, 2014 and September 16, 2016. Similarly, the under recovery of LPG went down from Rs 449.13 per cylinder to Rs 33.98 per cylinder,” he added.
“Don’t they qualify better for the label of ‘economic terrorists’ which they had used against us in 2008 when we increased the price of petrol and diesel,” asked Tewari.
