Congress Leader & Union Minister Irani Showdown Over Rising Fuel Prices in a Flight

New Delhi: Rising Fuel Prices- In a minute tape, Irani can be heard stating “please don’t lie.” Later, the minister claimed that she was “accosted” and that her path was “restricted.”
 

Onboard a Delhi-Guwahati aircraft on Sunday, Union Minister Smriti Irani faced a torrent of stern questions from a Congress politician on the steep hike in fuel prices. Acting President of the Mahila Congress, Netta D’Souza, was shown in a viral video asking the minister a series of questions. D’Souza, who was documenting the whole thing, uploaded it to her official Twitter account. When challenged about the price hike, the minister blamed “the vaccine, rationing, even the poor conditions,” according to the Congress leader. 

Irani was in Guwahati on Sunday to chair the Northeast Zonal Convention of state governments and stakeholders. The conversations were started to guarantee that the Missions POSHAN 2.0, Vatsalya, and Shakti, which were just launched, had the greatest possible impact. Several Congress politicians, including Devendra Yadav and Jitu Patwari, have reposted the video, along with harsh criticism of the Narendra Modi government, but the Union Minister has yet to post anything on her Twitter account. 

D’Souza responded to one of the remarks by saying she was “not afraid of any travel ban.” Irani can be heard stating “please don’t lie” in the less than a minute tape. Later, the minister claimed that she was “accosted” and that her path was “restricted.” It should be remembered that the price of gasoline and diesel has increased 14 times in the last 16 days. The petrol is being sold at over 100 Rupees per liter in all of India’s main cities. 

Despite global crude oil price volatility, petrol and diesel prices in five states remained unchanged in the four months running up to the assembly elections. The opposition accused the government of using gimmicks to win elections. The administration, for its part, has attributed the rise in gasoline and diesel prices to global forces. According to the Centre, India’s spike in fuel costs as a result of global volatility is among the lowest in the world. 

“It was depressing to hear that simply because they (the government) provided vaccines and ration cards, gas rates or gasoline costs should double.” There is no logical justification for this,” she added, adding that despite the government’s claim that the COVID-19 vaccines were free, “the average man had to pay for them.” 

The price of gasoline has been raised 14 times in 16 days, resulting in a ten-cent increase per liter. In the last two days, there has been no hiking. In Delhi, a liter of petrol costs 105.41 Rupees, while a liter of diesel costs 96.67 Rupees. In Mumbai, where fuel rates are the highest of the four metros, petrol costs 120.51 Rupees per liter, while diesel costs 104.77 Rupees per liter. 

Fuel prices have been steady for nearly four months, despite the surge in crude oil prices. The opposition claims it is a BJP election strategy after the BJP won all four states where elections were recently held. 

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri blamed the price spike on the Russia-Ukraine conflict but stated the increase in India was only 5% compared to countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Sri Lanka, where prices have risen by 50%. In the aftermath of the war, he noted, the increase in petrol costs in India was relatively low. Despite the global volatility of crude oil prices, gasoline and diesel prices in five states remained unchanged in the four months running up to the general elections. The opposition charged that the centre was using shady tactics to win elections. The administration, for its part, has attributed the rise in gasoline and diesel prices to global forces. India’s growth in fuel prices is also among the lowest in the world, according to the center, despite global volatility.

Published By: Simran Mulani

Edit By: Khushi Thakur