West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who urged states to reduce VAT in “national interest” to benefit the common man during a virtual interaction with chief ministers amid rising fuel prices across the country.
Banerjee said her government has spent ₹1,500 crore in the last three years to subsidise petrol and diesel prices in the state.
Modi flagged higher fuel prices in opposition-ruled states such as Maharashtra, Kerala and West Bengal.
“Today’s interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was completely one-sided and misleading. The facts shared by him were wrong. We have been providing a subsidy of Re 1 on every litre of petrol and diesel for the last three years. We have spent ₹1,500 crore on this,” news agency PTI quoted Banerjee as saying who was addressing reporters at the state secretariat.
She also claimed there was no scope for the chief ministers to speak at the meeting and hence, they could not counter the prime minister’s statement.
Other opposition parties also accused Modi of playing politics during his meeting and “passing the buck” on to states to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said the Centre owed ₹26,500 crore to the state, accusing it of step-motherly treatment to the state and that Maharashtra was not responsible for the rise in prices of petrol and diesel.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala attacked Modi, demanding that he give an account of the ₹27 lakh crore “collected” by the BJP government from tax on petrol and diesel.
“Modi ji, No criticism, No distractions, No Jumlas! Please give an account of ₹27,00,00,00,00,00,00 ( ₹27 Lakh Crore) collected by BJP Govt from Tax on Petrol & Diesel,” Surjewala said.
He said on May 26, 2014, when Modi assumed charge, crude oil was USD 108 per barrel, but petrol and diesel were priced at ₹71.41 and ₹55.49 per litre, while today, crude oil is USD 100.20 per barrel, but the petrol and diesel prices have been increased to ₹105.41/litre and ₹96.67/litre respectively in Delhi.
Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also slammed the prime minister, alleging that he made the “Covid meeting about politics”.
“The central government has earned 26 lakh Crore out of central excise on fuel, increased 18 times even when oil prices hit rock bottom. The GST share to states still owed, compensation component to state done away with and now pointing fingers,” she tweeted.
Attacking the opposition, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the chief ministers of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Jharkhand “reek of hypocrisy” as their respective parties nonchalantly go on demanding a decrease in the fuel prices but when the ball is in their court, they charge high state tax on fuel to amplify the problems of common people.
Minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Puri tweeted, “Invoking the spirit of cooperative federalism, PM Modi Ji hits the nail on its head. Instead of protesting, the opposition states which have not decreased taxes on petrol & diesel, even after centre reduced excise on such products, should do it now & offer relief to citizens.”
Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommai said in November (last year) when the Centre reduced excise duty, some states followed and reduced excise duty in line with cooperative federalism. “We will also decide (on reducing VAT on fuel prices) after reviewing the economic situation.”
