The Congress has no moral right to question the BJP government at the Centre and in the state concerning the fuel price hike, BJP spokessperson Wilubou Newmai said on Thursday.
The BJP government at the Centre and the taxpayers of this country continue to pay the prices for the financial mismanagement of UPA, Wilubou stated in a release.
The Modi government paid off the unpaid bills of UPA era oil bonds worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore with an interest of 40,000 crore, Wilubou stated.
The Manmohan Singh government had issued oil bonds from 2005 to 2010 to keep petrol prices down and therefore, over the next five years, the Modi government will pay Rs 1.3 lakh crore to UPA-era oil bonds, he added.
Wilubou stated that the congress must first answer why fuel is expensive in Congress ruled states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab if they are concerned about the poor being hit by fuel prices.
The Congress-ruled states of Mumbai and Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar districts were the first places in the country to see petrol prices hit Rs 100 a litre mark, the spokesperson added.
Wilubou continued that the BJP is aware that fuel prices are hitting hard on the poor but Centre and the state government including Congress-ruled states need additional money from the taxes on petrol and diesel to meet expenses to combat pandemic and development works.
Mentioning that over 35,000 Crore have been spent on vaccines in a year, it stated that the Modi government approved Rs 1 lakh crore under PM Garib Kalyan scheme to give food grains to the poor for another 8 months (till November).
Under PM Kisan, thousands of crores have been directly deposited in the bank accounts of the farmers, Wilubou added.
