Today Congress is demonstrating across the country on the prices of petrol and diesel. Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi targeted the Modi government on the increased prices of petrol and diesel and said that the Modi government has recovered an additional Rs 18 lakh crore by increasing excise duty on petrol and diesel 12 times.

Sonia Gandhi said that the havoc of the Corona epidemic on one side and the cost of petrol and diesel, on the other hand, has made it difficult for the countrymen to live. Today, the prices of petrol and diesel have also crossed Rs 80 per litre in Delhi and other big cities of the country. After the lockdown, the Modi government has increased the prices of petrol and diesel 22 times.

Sonia Gandhi said that the prices of petrol and diesel are being increased at a time when the prices of crude oil are coming down in the international market. After 2014, instead of giving the public the benefit of falling crude oil prices, the Modi government increased excise duty on petrol and diesel 12 times, which the government recovered an additional Rs 18 lakh crore.

Sonia Gandhi said that it is the responsibility of the government to help the people of the country in difficult times, not take advantage of their trouble and profiteering. The unjustified increase in petrol and diesel has presented a new example of extortion by the government. This is not only unjust but also insensitive.

Sonia Gandhi said that the direct impact of increased prices is falling on the middle class and small-scale industries of the farmer-poor-job profession. I demand from the Modi government that in the crisis of Corona epidemic, the increased prices of petrol and diesel should be withdrawn immediately. Excise duty should also be withdrawn.