Cut in fuel price is like ‘Band-Aid on deep wound’, Randeep Singh Surjewala says  

Randeep Singh Surjewala.

After the government announced a cut in petrol price by Rs 2.50 per litre, on Thursday, Congress’s chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala likened the cut to “Band-Aid on deep wound” and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring down fuel price back to the 2014-level. He also demanded that fuel to be brought under the goods and services tax (GST).

On the cut in petrol prices, Surjewala said, “After inflicting a thousand wounds, the Modi government is offering ‘Band-Aid’.”

Speaking to reporters, Surjewala claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan charges the “highest” value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products and demanded that fuel be brought under the GST, whose tax slabs are much lower than the VAT charged in these states.

Surjewala claimed, “RTI reply has revealed that the Modi government was selling petrol and diesel to several countries at less than half the price at which it was being sold in India. This shows that this government is ‘fleecing’ its own people.”

Surjewala challenged Modi to bring fuel prices back to the 2014-level instead of throwing a “pittance of one or two rupees” at the public.

Surjewala said, “The cut in fuel prices was ‘insignificant, like needle in a haystack’. The cut was ‘a panic reaction in the face of public anger’ ahead of assembly polls in four states.”

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