The Delhi Congress on Thursday said it would launch a campaign against the fuel price hike, blaming both the BJP-ruled Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for the rise.
Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said the party would seek 10 lakh signatures from the public at petrol pumps across the city. The petition asking for a rollback in the central excise and value added tax (VAT) hikes would be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said. After the campaign, the party would hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on September 20.
‘New high’
“Despite crude oil prices falling in the international market, the price of petrol and diesel have reached a new high. This is a cruel joke by the BJP and the AAP governments,” said Mr. Maken.
He said while the Centre had hiked excise, the Delhi government had increased VAT on petrol and diesel. As per the Congress’ analysis, for every ₹100 spent on petrol, taxes amounted to ₹51.78.
Of this, ₹30.52 was excise and ₹21.26 VAT. Similarly, ₹44.40 were taxes in every ₹100 spent on diesel in Delhi. This included ₹29.69 in excise and ₹14.71 in VAT. While Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented from July 1, petrol and diesel have been kept out of the ambit of the new regime.
Mr. Maken said that in 2014, when the Congress-led UPA government was in power, the taxes on petrol and diesel were ₹34.35 and ₹19.67 for each ₹100 spent on the products.