Hyderabad: The Congress on Monday strongly condemned the consecutive petrol and diesel price hikes, accusing the BJP-led Union government of breaking the backbone of the common man and ‘deceiving the public.’
In a media statement, transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar criticised the timing of the hike, pointing out that the Centre deliberately paused fuel price increases until the Assembly elections in four states concluded and began to hike prices immediately afterwards.
He questioned the seriousness of the state BJP campaign ‘Raitu Ghosa – BJP Bharosa’ (Farmers’ Distress – BJP Assurance). “If the BJP truly cares about the farmers of Telangana, it should first take concrete measures to control the prices of petrol and diesel,” he pointed out.
Prabhakar accused the Union government of failing to fully procure the harvested crop by Telangana farmers. “Even though the State government requested to procure the surplus grain, the Centre refused,” he added.
State Mahila Congress president Errabelli Swarna warned that if the Centre fails to roll back the fuel price hike, Mahila Congress would initiate agitation across Telangana, as the hike would have impact on essential commodities. “This ruthless decision to hike the fuel prices under the garb of international price of crude oil would only further burden the middle class,” said Swarna.
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