The price of petrol crossed the ₹100/litre mark in the Capital for the first time, fuelling protests from various sections.
Petrol price was increased by 35 paise per litre while diesel rates were increased by 17 paise a litre, according to price notification from State-owned fuel retailers. In Delhi, the price of petrol now stands at ₹100.21 per litre and diesel rates rose to ₹89.53 a litre.
Demands rollback
The Delhi Congress organised a flash protest outside the residence of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gases Dharmendra Pradhan, demanding his resignation for failing to keep fuel prices in check. Congress workers held the BJP government at the Centre responsible for the prices of petrol and diesel and demanded a rollback of excise duty and VAT (value added tax) on these products to give relief to common people.
Delhi Congress chief Ch. Anil Kumar said that frequent petrol and diesel price hike, almost on a daily basis for the past many weeks, seems to have not affected the BJP government at the Centre, which is least concerned about the plight of the common people. “The common people have been financially distressed by the pandemic crisis and are in no position to bear the extra burden of oil price hikes,” Mr. Kumar said.
He added that the seven BJP MPs from Delhi were not concerned about people’s difficulties as their interaction with the residents remains confined to asking votes during elections and fooling people with lies and falsehood. The protesters were stopped by the Delhi police as they moved towards the residence of the Union Minister.
Mr. Kumar said that despite crude oil price in the international market slumping, retail prices of petrol and diesel continue to soar in the country without any checks and balance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is happy with his friends in the petroleum sector making enormous profits from the retail sale of oil products. “High cost of petrol and diesel has had an adverse impact on the prices of essential commodities as rising transportation costs get reflected when these products reach markets,” he said.