While the country is crying rivulets of petrol and diesel, FM Arun Jaitley is teaching the countrymen about the economics behind the petrol and diesel price hike without giving any relief to the common man. Jaitley says that global factors are responsible for this extreme price hike and no step should be taken in hurry to lower down petrol and diesel prices otherwise it will affect the economy to a very large extent.While it is very easy for Mr. Jaitley to teach economics, making adjustment with the daily price hike in petrol and diesel has become an arduous task for the common man. As of September 8,2018, petrol is marked at a price of Rs.80.38/L whilst diesel has touched the mark of Rs.72.51/L (Delhi).
While there are no signs from the government to give relief from this price hike, an RTI filed by Rohit Sabharwal has revealed that India exports petrol and diesel to many countries at half the price! The RTI has revealed that India exports petrol and diesel to Mauritius at the price of Rs.36.30/L and Rs.37.06/L respectively. Along with Mauritius, India is exporting petrol to UAE, HongKong, Malaysia and Singapore at the price of Rs.33.84/L, Rs.38.26/L, Rs.36.08/L and Rs.38.31/L respectively.
After this revelation, the countrymen feel betrayed by their own government. One thing to be realised here is that even after low prices of crude oil worldwide, India is facing price hike in petrol and diesel due to many forms of taxes which are imposed on it.
While the petrol and diesel price hike is an agony for the common people, it has become a weapon for the opposition parties to question the government about its policies. The Congress along with other parties has called for “Bharat Bandh” on September 10. The opposition is doing its work but the BJP government should also realise that the petrol price hike was one of the weapons used by them against the then UPA II government. BJP made it a national issue and asked the people to vote for them by saying “Bahut huyi janta par petrol aur diesel ki maar, Abki baar Modi Sarkar”.
BJP should not forget that the people voted them with an expectation of relief from price hike but they have also failed in fulfilling their election promise. If BJP can’t do anything to handle petrol and diesel price hike, then why did they make it a major issue during the general elections of 2014?