"Is It A Government Or Greedy Money Lender From Old Hindi Films?": Rahul Gandhi On Fuel Tax

Excise duty on petrol was hiked from Rs 19.98 per litre to Rs 32.9 and the same on diesel was raised to Rs 31.8 from Rs 15.83 a litre last year to recoup gain arising from international oil prices plunging to multi-year low as pandemic affected demand.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today took a dig at the Centre over its tax collections on petrol and diesel, asking whether it is a government or a "greedy money lender from old Hindi films?" His attack came a day after the Lok Sabha was informed that the Union government's tax collections on petrol and diesel jumped by 88 per cent to Rs 3.35 lakh crore in the last fiscal. Tagging a media report on the issue, Rahul Gandhi said, "On one hand they are provoking people to take loans, on the other hand they are earning indiscriminately through tax extortion." "Is it a government or a greedy money lender from old Hindi films?" the former Congress chief said in a tweet in Hindi using the hashtag "#TaxExtortion".