BJP calls nationwide stir against petrol price hike

Seeking to fault the Congress on its “aam aadmi” plank, BJP President Rajnath Singh said the hike will push up the prices of essential commodities, affecting all sections of the society, particularly the middle class and farmers.

“The common man will have to bear the brunt of the petrol price hike. The Congress-led UPA government has failed to control price rise,” Singh said in New Delhi.

He said the party will launch a countrywide agitation against the hike from Friday.

Singh slammed the Government’s “flawed” economic policy and blamed it for the distress in agrarian sector, food security crisis and volatility in stock market.

“The Congress-led Government’s inability to check price rise means its economic policies are faulty or there is corruption or it has no control over the system,” he said.

He also ridiculed the Left parties for opposing the petrol price hike, saying “they only bark, don’t bite”.

Separately, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar accused the UPA government of profiteering from the oil sector by hiking petrol prices, which he said is sure to further trigger inflationary trends.

Noting that this was the eighth petroleum price hike effected by the Congress-led UPA, Javadekar said it would also adversely impact the economy.

“Instead of opting for a price hike, the government should have considered the Expenditure Finance Commission recommendation on revenue neutralisation,” Javadekar said.

“The tax burden in the prices of petroleum products is well above 50 per cent. This is the highest tax regime in the world. The government seeks to profiteer with every increase in petroleum prices at the cost of inflationary impact,” he said.

Javadekar said the revenue earnings from the petroleum sector were to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore in 2004 and last year, the government earned more than Rs 1,40,000 crore.

“This profiteering by the government from the oil sector is criminal injustice heaped upon the common man. This increase once again exposes the UPA’s anti-people policies,” he said.

Javadekar noted that during the NDA regime, in May, 2004, the price of petrol in Delhi was Rs 30.25 per litre, which has under the UPA rule escalated by over 50 per cent to Rs 45.52 per litre.