New Delhi: The Congress on Monday attacked the central government over the daily increases in the prices of petrol and diesel for over three weeks, saying that the government was "fleecing" the people in this manner.
The opposition party also said that people from different sections of society and those rendered jobless were struggling to survive the economic ruin unleashed by the anti-people policies of the Modi government.
"The BJP-led government is fleecing people by not just increasing fuel prices but also refusing to share with the people the benefits of lower crude oil prices globally, so as to reduce their burden," Congress spokesperson Khushbu Sundar said at a press conference here.
The Congress leader said that "repeated and unjust increases" in fuel prices as also the central excise duty on petrol and diesel had inflicted "insurmountable pain and suffering" on the people of India.
The Congress said that in May 2014 (when BJP assumed power), excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.20 per litre and on diesel Rs 3.46 per litre. "In the last six years, the Modi has increased the excise duty on petrol by an additional Rs 23.78 per litre and on diesel by an additional Rs 28.37 per litre. It is a shocking 820 per cent hike in excise duty on diesel and 258 per cent increase in excise duty on petrol," Sundar said.
"The Modi government has earned Rs 18,00,000 crore in the last six years by increasing excise duty on petrol and diesel alone," the Congress leader added.
Meanwhile, the Congress supporters protested against the fuel prices hike across the country, and use various means of demonstration.
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