Congress Launches Sarcastic Attack Over Centre’s Fuel Price Reduction Call; BJP Retaliates

New Delhi: While some days ago, opponent parties were slamming Narendra Modi led NDA government for the increased price of fuels, now sarcastic swipes from Congress over this have created virtual clangs for BJP.

After weeks of steady hikes, the central government decided to cut petrol and diesel prices – by Rs 5 and Rs 10, respectively. Launching a sarcastic attack on BJP, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has linked it to the saffron party’s debacle in by-polls held last week for three Lok Sabha and 30 Assembly seats.

The results of the 30 Assembly and 3 LS by-elections have produced a by-product

The centre has cut excise duties on petrol and diesel!

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 4, 2021

Chidambaram called the fuel price cuts a “by-product of by-elections” and said it confirmed his party’s position – that skyrocketing petrol and diesel prices were the results of high taxes, and that the high taxes were the result of the “greed of the central government”.

Here is another interesting analysis of the results of the by-elections

In states where the Congress won, it did so with a significantly higher vote share:

– In HP, the Congress vs BJP was 48.9% to 28%

– In Maharashtra, it was 57% to 35%

– In Rajasthan, it was 37.51% to 18.8%

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 3, 2021

“The results of the 30 Assembly and 3 LS by-elections have produced a by-product… The centre has cut excise duties on petrol and diesel!” the Rajya Sabha MP tweeted today.

“It is a confirmation of our charge that fuel prices are high mainly because of high taxes… And our charge that high fuel taxes is because of the greed of the central government,” he added.

Retaliating over the same, former Petroleum Minister in NDA I and now Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Modi government “stands for being with the people in their happiness as well as in grief”.

If the accusation is being sensitive to people’s demand and sharing their sorrow, we happily accept it as the #ModiGovt stands for being with the people in their happiness as well as in grief. https://t.co/6AjBOtWqFR

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) November 4, 2021

On Tuesday, the BJP was beaten by the Congress in Himachal Pradesh (losing one Lok Sabha and three Assembly seats) and swept away by Bengal’s ruling Trinamool (four Assembly seats). BJP was also lost prestige battles in Karnataka and Haryana.