Kharge Accuses Centre Of ‘Looting’ Public After Third Fuel Price Hike In 8 Days

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed on Saturday that the government was "looting" the people's wages in instalments following the third increase in fuel prices in eight days.

Kharge asserted that there was a leadership problem in the government in a Hindi post on X, claiming that the BJP government here continues to "loot" its citizens while other nations are helping their citizens.

"Petrol has now crossed Rs 100, this time around...Looting the public's earnings in instalments! "The BJP's appetite isn't satisfied even after slapping a central tax of Rs 1,000 crore daily on petrol-diesel... When international prices were low, they didn't pass on the benefits to the people - instead, they looted them relentlessly," he said in his post.

Kharge claimed that when the crisis hit, the BJP leadership got involved in elections, and after the elections, they preached sacrifice. "Then, in just 8 days, they hiked petrol-diesel prices three times," he said. "We were told that prices in India are the lowest compared to foreign countries." "When the war in West Asia broke out, and PM Modi was busy feeding us Indians the 'everything's fine' sedative, other countries were providing relief to their citizens," he claimed.

The head of the Congress used the example of Italy, which claimed to have lowered fuel taxes and provided some assistance to its residents, while Australia had lowered fuel taxes and lowered petrol costs for its citizens by roughly Rs 17 per litre.

He added that while the UK gave households 100 pounds in oil help and reduced fuel and power taxes, Germany reduced oil taxes, bringing down fuel prices by Rs 17–19 per litre.

According to him, Ireland's 250 million euro rescue package reduced the cost of fuel by roughly 0.15 euros per litre and diesel by 0.20 euros per litre.

"Narendra Modi ji, tell us -- Who all are getting a share of this installment-based loot? Why are you so compromised? "The real crisis in this government is one of leadership -- 140 crore Indians have now figured that out," Kharge alleged.

Petrol and diesel prices were raised by 87-91 paise per litre on Saturday, taking the cumulative increase in retail fuel rates to nearly Rs 5 a litre in under 10 days as state-owned firms passed on soaring international oil prices.

The latest revision pushed petrol prices higher by 87 paise per litre and diesel by up to 91 paise across the country, according to industry sources.

The back-to-back increases follow a prolonged freeze in retail fuel prices and come amid elevated crude oil prices in the global market.

Since the state-owned oil marketing corporations ended the gap in rate revision on May 15, the price of petrol and diesel has increased to about Rs 5 per litre with the most recent hike, raising concerns about inflationary pressures and increased transportation expenses throughout the economy.

On May 15 and May 19, the price of petrol and diesel was raised by Rs 3 and 90 paise per litre, respectively.