Rahul attacks govt over increase in fuel, cooking gas prices; BJP rebuts
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday lashed out at the Centre over rising fuel prices, alleging that the government had earned ₹23 lakh crore from increasing prices of gas, petrol and diesel in the last seven years.
The Congress leader also said “there’s a new concept of GDP, rising GDP means rise in prices of gas, diesel and petrol”.
Hitting back, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) followed the core agenda of ‘CNP’, i.e., ‘corruption, nepotism and policy paralysis’.
Addressing reporters at party headquarters, Gandhi said: “The Prime Minister says the GDP is rising. Then I realised what he meant by GDP. Gas diesel petrol.
NEW DELHI:
In 2014, Narendra Modi ji had said that the prices of petrol and diesel are rising. In 2014, ₹410 was the price of the cylinder, when the UPA left office. Today it is ₹885, a rise of 116 per cent. Petrol was ₹71.5/litre in 2014, today it’s ₹101/litre, a rise of 42 per cent. Diesel was priced at ₹57/litre in 2014, it’s ₹88/litre today.”
He added: “The Centre has earned ₹23 lakh crores from the GDP, not Gross Domestic Product but Gas, Diesel, Petrol. Now my question to the government is, where did they spend this ₹23 lakh crores?...”
Gandhi accused the Centre of “selling the country’s assets”.
“...In the international market, the prices of gas and crude oil are declining, and on the contrary, they are sharply increasing in India. On the other hand, the country’s assets are being sold,” he said.
The Wayanad MP alleged the Centre had “demonetised” farmers, labourers, small and medium businesses, salaried class, and honest industrialists through its economic policies.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Gandhi can “never understand the real meaning” of GDP. “...He tried to redefine GDP in the wrong way. The UPA government followed CNP - corruption, nepotism and policy paralysis as their core agenda. They won’t be able to understand the real meaning of GDP.”