Congress slams govt over inflation, says stop resorting to 'optical delusion'

A day after the government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel the Congress on Sunday accused the BJP of resorting to trickery to create an optical delusion and said the people deserve genuine relief from the record inflationIn a tweet former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi compared petrol prices between May 1 2020 and now and said the government must stop fooling citizensPetrol Prices May 1 2020 Rs 695 Mar 1 2022 Rs 954 May 1 2022 Rs 1054 May 22 2022 Rs 967m Now expect Petrol to see Vikas in daily doses of Rs 08 and Rs 03 again Gandhi saidPetrol PricesMay 1 2020 695Mar 1 2022 954May 1 2022 1054May 22 2022 967Now expect Petrol to see lsquoVikasrsquo in daily doses of 08 and 03 againGovt must stop fooling citizens People deserve genuine relief from record inflationmdash Rahul Gandhi RahulGandhi May 22 2022Govt must stop fooling citizens People deserve genuine relief from record inflation he said on TwitterAt a press conference at the AICC headquarter here Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh accused the Modi government of being high on political gimmick and low on reliefThe BJP governments cluelessness about the economy and financial management has been out in the open for long now Instead of accepting it and seeking guidance from experts the BJP only resorts to trickery to create an optical delusion Vallabh allegedIn yet another instance Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman put out a series of tweets announcing a series of actions that were purely meant to create a delusion he allegedThe FM announced a reduction of Rs 8 per litre on petrol and Rs 6 per litre in Central Excise While it may seem a significant reduction in absolute terms the point of contention doesnt change he argued citing figures of Rs 948 excise duty in 2014 and Rs 199 in May 2022Three steps forward and two steps back doesnt mean it leads to any improvement in the lives of the common people the Congress leader saidVallabh also cited that the excise per liter on diesel in April 2014 was Rs 356 and in May 2022 is Rs 158The prices are back to the March 2022 numbers Were the common people pleased with the fuel prices in March 2022 The answer is NoIs the government still charging a hefty excise on fuel The answer is Yes True relief will only come when excise will be reduced to 2014 levels he stressedPetrol prices have increased by Rs 10 per litre in the last 60 days and then comes a reduction of Rs 95 per litre Vallabh said and asked Isnt this trickeryDiesel prices have increased by Rs 10 per litre in the last 60 days and then comes a reduction of Rs 7 per litre he said asking how is this welfareVallabh pointed out that LPG prices have increased by 142 per cent between May2014 and May2022LPG prices have increased by more than Rs 400 in the last 18 months Providing Rs 200 reduction doesnt mean the welfare of the people but just sucking the blood in lower volumes he allegedHe also questioned the Finance Minister claim that the inflation has remained lower in the BJPs tenureWPI in April 2022 stood at 151 per cent and retail inflation stood at 779 per cent The inflation target band set by the RBI is 2 to 6 per cent Inflation is killing the common people he saidMadam FM mentioned that her government is devoted to the welfare of the poor The true face of your devotion to the welfare of the poor lies in the Oxfam report that claimed that in 2021 the income of 84 per cent of households fell while the number of billionaires grew Which welfare is she talking about he saidDemanding answers from the government Vallabh asked what is preventing the BJP government from announcing relief measures for the common peopleWhy to resort to just optical delusion instead of concrete measures he saidWill the BJP government guarantee that the excise duties on petrol and diesel will not increase for the next two years of their tenure he askedVallabh also questioned the government as to what measures are being taken to bring down the inflation to the lower end of the 2 to 6 per cent band set by the RBIPetrol price on Sunday was slashed by Rs 869 a litre and diesel by Rs 705 per litre following the government cutting excise duty on auto fuels to give relief to consumers battered by high fuel prices that have also pushed inflation to a record highThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever