The Congress accuses Nirmala Sitharaman of ‘duping’ people, saying they need relief rather than ‘figure-juggling’
*Paromita Das
The Congress accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of “befooling” people on May 21 after she announced an excise duty cut on gasoline and diesel, saying people needed relief rather than “figure juggling.”
According to Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, the government increased the excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 in 60 days before “duping” people by lowering it by Rs 9.50.
The opposition party demanded that the finance minister show courage and restore the excise on petrol and diesel to the level it was at in May 2014, when the UPA was in power.
“Dear FM, You raised the price of petrol by Rs 10/litre in 60 days and have now reduced it by Rs 9.50/litre. You raised the price of diesel by Rs 10 per litre and have now reduced it by Rs 7 per litre. Stop duping people!”
“The nation does not require juggling of figures to deceive the people, nor does it require Jumlas. Instead, the nation requires a rollback of excise on petrol and diesel to May 2014 levels of Rs 9.48/litre on petrol and Rs 3.56/litre on diesel. Stop deceiving others, and show the courage to provide relief “In a series of tweets, Surjewala stated.
https://twitter.com/rssurjewala/status/1528011396608303104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1528011396608303104%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.dailyhunt.in%2Fnews%2Findia%2Fenglish%2Findiatoday-epaper-dh270e11982dfa46bb8c2f9b6c27103d59%2Fhindugroupsprotestatqutbminardemanditberenamedtovishnustambh-newsid-n384982786
According to the Congress leader, the excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.48/liter in May 2014.
“It’s still Rs 19.90 compared to Rs 9.48 during the Congress,” he explained.
“It is still Rs 15.80 versus Rs 3.56 during Congress,” he said of diesel excise duty.
According to senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, the true savings will come if the Center reduces the cess it levies on gasoline and diesel that is not shared with the states.
He believes the FM’s call for states to cut taxes is meaningless. “When she reduces Central Excise by one rupee, the states receive 41 paise of that rupee. It means that the Centre has saved 59 paise while the states have saved 41 paise. So don’t point fingers,” said the former finance minister.
“Raise the price of petrol by Rs 10 per litre in two months while lowering the price of diesel by Rs 9.50 per litre and Rs 7 per litre. This is equivalent to robbing Peter more and paying Peter less!” Chidambaram took to Twitter.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot claimed that the excise duty had to be reduced because of the Congress party’s public awareness campaign, which was decided in the recently held Chintan Shivir.
He demanded that the central government reduce petrol and diesel prices to levels seen during the UPA’s tenure if it truly wants to provide relief to the people.
Because of the Congress’s ongoing protests against inflation across the country, as well as the pressure from a public awareness campaign against inflation decided in Navsankalp Shivir, Udaipur, the central government was forced to reduce the excise duty on petrol and diesel today. Gehlot used Twitter.
Manickam Tagore, the Congress whip in the Lok Sabha, also attacked the finance minister, accusing her of being “arrogant” and favoring the wealthy over the middle class.
The government cut excise duty on petrol by a record Rs 8 per liter and diesel by Rs 6 per liter on May 21 to provide relief to consumers who have been battered by high fuel prices, which have also pushed inflation to a multi-year high.
After accounting for the impact of other levies, the excise duty cut will result in a reduction of Rs 9.5 per liter on petrol and Rs 7 per liter on diesel. In addition to the duty reduction, Sitharaman announced that the government will provide a Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year to help alleviate some of the burden caused by rising cooking gas prices.
