Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday emphasised that Western countries were happy that India was buying large quantities of Russian crude. Had India bought oil from the Gulf countries it would have pushed up crude prices significantly.
Puri was interviewed by Shivani Gupta, senior associate editor of CNN-News18, during the Lokmat National Conclave held in New Delhi on Tuesday. Vijay Darda, Chairman of Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha, welcomed him while Vijay Bawiskar, Group Editor of Lokmat Media, presented him a memento.
The minister made it clear that India as a sovereign country has the right to source crude from wherever it got it cheapest. It is impossible for any country to pressurise the Narendra Modi government on any issue. Earlier, India purchased crude from 27 countries but now the number of suppliers is 39. We are also buying more oil from the US along with Russia than before, he said.
He termed the concern expressed by non-BJP parties regarding inflation as a joke. There was a difference of Rs 15 per litre in prices of petrol and diesel between BJP-ruled states and those ruled by other parties as the latter had not reduced VAT on these fuels.
Mocking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Puri said that he was happy with whatever Rahul was doing as soon he would be under fire from his own party. Congress leaders were saying in private that gains of Bharat Jodo Yatra had been wiped off due to Rahul's irresponsible statements abroad, he said.
The minister termed Rahul's statements as atrocious. Congress had used Article 356 of the Indian Constitution to dismiss legitimate state governments. Rahul's grandmother Indira Gandhi had used it 50 times but BJP had never done this. Indira had imposed emergency in the country. Yet Rahul was claiming that democracy is under threat from BJP.
Puri pointed out that the media severely criticised the Central government, which was helpless due to weak defamation laws. People spread baseless lies against the government on social media." The Supreme Court is interfering in government working and even trying to run Delhi Metro. Then how could anybody say that democracy in India is under threat," he asked.