Cong slams Modi govt on price rise in COVID pandemic

Raipur, Jun 03: Congress today attacked BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the centre over rising prices in the country. Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee President Mohan Markam alleged that prices of commodities doubled during last seven year rule of Modi Government. The pace at which inflation is growing at present would be dangerous for those recovering from COVID infection, he said while talking to the reporters at Rajiv Bhavan (Pradesh Congress headquarters) here today.
People are reeling under COVID pandemic for the last one and a half years, he said and added that lakhs of people died due to failure of the central government to tackle situation. At a time when industrial and business activities have come to standstill leading to rise in unemployment, the Modi Government continued to hike prices, he said.
Be it the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene or gas cylinders, the prices of edible oil or medicines used in ordinary diseases, everything is becoming increasingly expensive, said Markam. After one national calamity, another national calamity has hit the country and Prime Minister Modi is responsible for all this, he added.
Markam also targeted Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over rising prices of edible oils. While on one hand the prices of food items increased, on the other the income of farmers decreased, he said. This means that the benefit of increasing prices of food items has not gone to the farmers but to the middlemen, he said. According to him prices of edible oil doubled in the last two years. Modi’s favorite is Goutam Adani, the largest producer of edible oil in the country. In such a situation, it can be understood that who is getting the most benefit from this inflation, he added.
The Pradesh Congress president said, in April 2014, the price of crude oil in the international market was $ 103 per barrel and the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not allow the prices of petrol and diesel to increase. At that time the price of petrol was Rs 72 per liter and that of diesel was Rs 55 per litre. Today, the price of crude oil in the international market is $ 69.15 per barrel. Whereas in Raipur, the price of petrol has reached Rs 92.76 per liter and the price of diesel has reached Rs 92.38 per liter. In some cities of the country, the price of petrol has gone up to more than Rs 100. In the month of May itself, the prices of petrol and diesel have been increased 16 times. Markam alleged that the central government is robbing public through excise duty on petroleum. According to him despite decrease in the prices of crude oil by 36 per cent, the price of petrol has increased by 31 per cent and that of diesel by 55 per cent. In 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power at the Center, the excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.48 per liter. At present this duty is Rs 32.90 per liter. In 2014, the excise duty on diesel was Rs 3.56 per liter which is currently Rs 31.80 per litre.