New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday indicated that
there will be no roll back in fuel prices and accused the
opposition of resorting to "political opportunism" on the
issue.
"The opposition should introspect before resorting to
such political opportunism. They raised prices of petrol 21
times, that of diesel 24 times and that of LPG five times when
the NDA was in power," party spokesman Manish Tewari said.
He said the opposition walkout during Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee`s Budget Speech was not only a contempt of
Parliament but also a mockery of democracy as presentation of
Budget was the most important in a Parliamentary calendar.
Justifying fuel price hike, he said concessions in excise
duty were given in June 2008 when price of crude oil was 133
dollars a barrel and now with the prices coming down, the
government has partially gone back to the 1998 excise regime.
Tewari said the impact of the fuel price hike will lead
to only 0.4 percent rise in the wholesale price index and
claimed the opposition had attacked the government without
even analysing its implications.
The spokesman appealed to the opposition to adopt a
"constructive" approach towards "such sensitive" issues
related to the economy.
Asked whether the party was for a roll back of the fuel
prices, Tewari said, "There is an economic reality articulated
clearly by the Finance Minister in the budget and outside in
details. That lays the roadmap... I have nothing to add or
subtract to that."
PTI
