Congress chief and former Finance minister P Chidambaram Tuesday hit out on the Narendra Modi-led authorities over the rise in costs of petrol, LPG and pulses, asserting that the Congress Party will elevate the difficulty of inflation within the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Accusing the Centre of ‘pretending’ that value rise is a ‘false concern’, Chidambaram expressed fear over the excessive fee of unemployment and wage cuts within the nation. “In such a situation of widespread distress, inflation has broken the back of the people, and we hold the central government under Narendra Modi directly responsible for the high inflation,” he stated.
Chidambaram demanded a discount in gasoline costs and GST charges, and a evaluate of the import duties to cut back the “crushing burden of high inflation.”
“Despite stout opposition, the government has continually increased the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG,” he stated, including that the worth of petrol had reached over Rs 100 in Mumbai and Delhi, whereas the worth of LPG is at Rs 835 per cylinder in Delhi and Rs 933 per cylinder in Patna. “None of these prices is justified by the price of crude oil which is around $75 a barrel. When crude oil price was $125, the UPA government was able to provide petrol at Rs 65 per litre and diesel at Rs 44 per litre,” Chidambaram stated.
He blamed the cesses levied by the central authorities for the “exorbitant prices”, stating that it collects almost Rs 4.2 lakh crore yearly by means of them and “keeps all that money to itself.”
Chidambaram went on to criticise the Modi authorities for growing import duties on a number of items, regardless of a “downward trend in the value of the rupee.” He additionally known as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) “a regressive tax” with “irrational” charges.
Referring to NSO knowledge, Chidambaram stated the buyer value inflation has reached 6.26 per cent, which is above the higher restrict of inflation goal set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
“Will the government please tell the people what they should eat, how they should light their homes and how they should go to work?” Chidambaram requested. He added that the inflation was not attributable to an increase in demand or liquidity, however because of “the wrong policies of the government and its inept management of the economy.” “Let me caution the government: the issue of high inflation will not go away if you pretend it does not exist,” he concluded.
