With rampant job cuts and wage cuts, the unprecedented rise in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices are imposing enormous burden even on the middle class. The Union Budget offered no relief to the honest tax payer, the salaried middle class. The graduates of Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Mahabubnagar should give a befitting reply to the authors of these ‘anti-people’ policies, said Prof. K. Nageshwar, who is contesting as an Independent candidate from this constituency.
Participating in an interactive session with voters at ME Reddy Gardens, Vanasthalipuram, on Tuesday, the two term MLC said that the Central excise duties on petrol increased by 350% and on diesel by whopping 894% since 2014, after the BJP government assumed office.
The Central excise duty on petrol increased from ₹9.48 in 2014 to ₹32.98 in February, while the corresponding increase on diesel was ₹3.56 to ₹31.83. The Central share in the total taxes on petroleum products increased from 14% in 2014 to 38%, Prof. Nageshwar explained.
Referring to the political economy of fuel prices, he said that the BJP-led Central government collected ₹2,40,000 crore through tax on fuels from ordinary Indians in the 2019-20 fiscal and handed over tax sops to corporates to the tune of ₹1.45 crore in September 2019. Should graduates vote to make petrol ₹100 a litre, Nageshwar lamented? The State government too is adding to the tax burden. The MLC elections’ verdict should reflect the anger and anguish of the civil society, he exhorted.