The Congress on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government punishes people for voting the BJP to power with three things: arrogance, autocratic attitude and price rise.

Expressing outrage over the decision to increase the price of cooking gas cylinder by Rs 50, in addition to the hike in prices of petrol and diesel, the Congress said: “The Modi government has extracted Rs 26 lakh crore by taxing petroleum products in the last eight years.”

The statement issued by the party said: “When the Manmohan Singh government relinquished office in May 2014, crude oil price was 108 dollars per barrel. But the petrol and diesel prices were Rs 71.41 and Rs 55.49 respectively. Today the crude oil is 108.25 dollars per barrel and petrol is Rs 96.21 and diesel Rs 87.47 per litre. Excise on petrol in 2014 was Rs 9.20 and on diesel Rs 3.46 per litre. Modi increased excise by 203 per cent on petrol and by 531 per cent on diesel.

“The LPG cylinder was sold for Rs 414 in 2014 while the price has gone up to Rs 1,000 now.”

The party pointed out that the average price of crude oil in the international market during the Manmohan Singh regime was $108.46 per barrel while the average price under Modi is $60.6 per barrel. It argued that the Modi government’s intention to loot the common man was manifested through its decision to charge abnormally high rates for petrol, diesel and LPG cylinder even when the price of crude oil crashed below $40 per barrel.

Quoting statistics from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, the Congress said: “The subsidy given by the UPA government on petroleum products was: Rs 1,42,000 crore in 2011-12, Rs 1,64,387 in 2012-13, Rs 1,47,025 in 2013-14. Modi government gave relief of Rs 27,301 crore in 2016-17, Rs 28,384 in 2017-18, Rs 43, 718 in 2018-19, Rs 26, 482 crore in 2019-20, and Rs 11,729 crore in 2020-21.

“So the petroleum subsidy of Rs 1.47 lakh crore was reduced to Rs 11,729 crore by Modi government as it chose to mint money instead of passing the benefits of low international prices to the consumers.”

Addressing the media, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Modi government once again unleashed its anti-poor policy after winning elections. They are extorting people. Now you will see petrol and diesel prices will increase daily. They are giving the excuse that prices are going up because of Russia-Ukraine war. But the government has said in Parliament that crude imports from Russia are less than 1 per cent of our total consumption. The latest hike will fetch the government Rs 10,000 crore. We wanted to discuss the matter in Parliament but the government didn’t allow.”

Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury said: “We all anticipated the prices will rise after the election.”

They have earned Rs 26 lakh crore in the last eight years by taxing petroleum products.”

Deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma described it as “Vote ke baad chot.”

Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “The lockdown on the prices of gas, diesel and petrol has been lifted. Now the Government will do ‘Vikas’ of prices. And if you ask the Prime Minister about the pandemic of price-rise, he will say — thali-bajao.”