More CMs hit out at Centre on fuel taxes

NEW DELHI: Several chief ministers hit out at the Centre again on Thursday in the row over levies on petrol and diesel, accusing the Union government of being “coercive, not cooperative”, even as Union petroleum minister opened a new front in the controversy by calling out Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi over their Value Added Tax (VAT) rates on jet fuel.

The controversy began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with chief ministers on Wednesday urged the state governments of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana,

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Jharkhand — all non-BJP governments — to reduce taxes on fuel to help citizens reeling under inflation.

Responding to the Prime Minister’s remarks, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin accused the Centre of “pretending” to reduce fuel-related taxes due to “elections in some states”.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the central government was running away from its responsibilities by singling out a few states. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Prime Ministerwas abdicating his responsibility by blaming states for the high fuel prices even when the Centre took 68% of all fuel taxes. Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said opposition parties were being hypocritical. “Ever wondered why air ticket prices haven’t come down? Aviation Turbine Fuel constitutes about 40 per cent of the cost of airline operations. But West Bengal, Maharashtra and Delhi impose massive 25 pc + VAT on ATF while BJP states UP & Nagaland; & UT of J&K charge just one pc,” Puri said in one of several tweets on Thursday.