Play your role in getting petrol, diesel prices reduced: Delhi Cong chief to BJP and AAP MPs, MLAs

Frequent hike in the prices of petrol and diesel (23 times in June alone) has had a cascading effect on the prices of other essential commodities, thereby hard hitting the people of Delhi who are already facing the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, he said. “The elected representatives of both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party have a moral obligation to protect the interest of the voters and they should play a proactive role in getting the prices of petrol and diesel reduced," Kumar said.

Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar on Thursday wrote letters to all MPs and MLAs of the BJP and the AAP in the city to support the demand for reduction in petrol and diesel prices from their governments. Frequent hike in the prices of petrol and diesel (23 times in June alone) has had a cascading effect on the prices of other essential commodities, thereby hard hitting the people of Delhi who are already facing the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

"The elected representatives of both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party have a moral obligation to protect the interest of the voters and they should play a proactive role in getting the prices of petrol and diesel reduced," Kumar said. All the seven Lok Sabha MPs from Delhi come from the BJP and the party also has eight MLAs in the Delhi Assembly. The ruling AAP in Delhi has 62 MLAs and three Rajya Sabha MPs.

In the letters to the  elected public representatives, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues, Kumar appealed to them to rise above "narrow political considerations" to join hands with the Congress to "prevail upon"  the Modi government at the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi to reduce the excise duty and VAT respectively on the fuel. "Petrol and diesel are selling at over Rs 80 per litre in Delhi, and for the first time in history diesel has become costlier than petrol, as the central government has imposed an excise duty of almost Rs 32 and the Delhi government is charging almost Rs 18 per litre as VAT (Value Added Tax)," he claimed.

The coronavirus pandemic has created a catalogue of crises -- medical, economic and personal -- that have affected every citizen of Delhi. The frequent hikes in the prices of petrol and diesel has had a cascading effect on the prices of other essential commodities and the common people have been hemmed from all sides, Kumar said..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)