Patna (Bihar) [India], May 15 : Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi on Friday attributed the recent fuel price hike to rising global crude oil prices amid international conflicts and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken steps to reduce the burden on citizens.
Speaking to ANI, Saraogi said the ongoing geopolitical tensions had impacted fuel prices across countries.
"The global crisis with war involving Israel, Iran and the US has driven crude prices up. Many countries have raised petrol and diesel prices," Saraogi said.
He further said that despite the crisis, Prime Minister Modi had removed the special excise duty to reduce losses for petroleum companies and minimise the burden on citizens.
"Yet the Prime Minister, concerned for people, removed the special excise duty to reduce losses for petroleum companies. This crisis has dragged on for months, and just days ago, he appealed to citizens to cut diesel and petrol use, even reducing his own consumption. Bihar's Chief Minister and several state governments have also issued similar directives," he said.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the hike in fuel prices amid the West Asia conflict, while taking a firm stance for the welfare of the public.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said that the PM Modi-led government's "mistakes" have cost the people, and claimed that the increase in petrol and diesel prices, which he termed as "vasooli (extortion)", will be done in instalments. "Modi government's mistake, public will pay the price. The ₹3 shock has already arrived. The rest of the recovery will be done in instalments," he said.
This comes after the Centre on Friday increased petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre across the country. Following the revision, petrol prices in New Delhi rose from Rs 94.77 to Rs 97.77 per litre, while diesel prices increased from Rs 87.67 to Rs 90.67 per litre.
The fuel price hike comes amid escalating global crude oil prices triggered by the ongoing conflict in West Asia. The geopolitical tensions, particularly the US-Israel and Iran conflict that began on February 28 this year, have disrupted global crude oil supplies and pushed Brent crude prices above USD 100 per barrel.
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