Congress blames Centre for fuel price rise

KPCC urges State to forsake local levy on fuel

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran squarely blamed the BJP-led Central government for the spiralling fuel and cooking gas prices.

Inaugurating the Congress’ Raj Bhavan siege against fuel price rise and inflation, Mr. Sudhakaran condemned the Kerala government for failing to cushion the impact of the inflation on household budgets.

He said the LDF government had raked in ₹6,000 crores by way of local levy on fuel last year alone. The Centre had earned ₹26 lakh crores in fuel and LPG taxes. Mr. Sudhakaran challenged the government to prove its welfarism credentials by forsaking the revenue. Both the Centre and the State had imposed tax terrorism on the common folk, he said.

Since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been pursuing a disastrous course of privatisation. Mr. Modi had forsaken mixed economy planning and pursued a neoliberal agenda that smacked of less government and more privatisation, including self-defeating disinvestment in critical national infrastructure. The BJP had sold healthy public sector units to corporates for a pittance, said the KPCC president.

The fuel price hike has impacted all sectors. Freight charges have shot up. It has caused a spurt in the price of essential commodities. Kerala is perhaps the worst hit, he said.

It is overwhelmingly a consumer State, dependent on other regions for food and essentials. Fuel price rise portends a season of food insecurity in Kerala. Skyrocketing crude oil prices have also increased the cost of chemical fertilisers, hitting the farm sector, he pointed out.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Tariq Anwar said the Centre’s deregulation of fuel prices was tantamount to robbery. The Centre has shown a marked unwillingness to debate the pressing matter in Lok Sabha.