Following her decision, the consumers will be exempted from the tax amounting to Rs 0.31 per liter of petrol and Rs 0.16 per liter of diesel in the state. The consumers will have to pay only Rs 4 per liter on petrol and Rs 2 on diesel extra as hiked by the Centre.

Earlier, the BSP government had marginally reduced the tax on petrol and diesel after the Centre announced the hike in price of petroleum products on June 7, 2008. The state government later increased the tax on petrol and diesel by one per cent after the Centre reduced the price in January 2009.

At present, UP has 26 per cent tax on petrol and 21 per cent on diesel, together constituting as much as 30 per cent of the Value Added Tax collections. Petrol and diesel are in the unclassified category of the VAT since VAT rates cannot exceed 12.5 per cent.

Mayawati alleged that the Congress-led UPA government has backstabbed the people by hiking the price and the move only benefits the corporate world.

“The slogan, Congress ka haath, aam admi ke saath is now exposed and has changed to Congress ka haath, punjipati ke saath,” she said. The CM demanded that the Centre withdrew the hike in fuel prices, as this would cause immense hardship to the poor and middle classes.

“During my election campaigning, I had cautioned the electorate that the BJP and Congress would ditch them and would work for the benefit of industrial houses, if they win. The price hike has vindicated my stand,” she said.

The CM said on June 7, 2008 the price of petrol was Rs 52.79 per liter and of diesel Rs 36.25 per liter, but ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on January 29, 2009, the price was reduced to Rs 43.47 (petrol) and Rs 32.41 (diesel).

Mayawati also termed the Economic Survey tabled in the Parliament on Thursday a bundle of lies that reflected the anti-people and pro-business house approach of the UPA government.

She criticised the suggestion made in the Economic Survey, such as the disinvestment of PSU banks and handing over the oil exploration work — at present being done by the ONGC — to the private sector.