Guj too should reduce sales tax on petrol: Congress

Ahmedabad, June 25 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition Arjun Modhvadia today ridiculed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for the recent rise in prices of essential commodities and said Gujarat too should reduce sales tax on these products.

Instead of reducing sales tax on these products like Congress-ruled states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi, and bringing some relief to people, the Gujarat government was only shedding crocodile tears, he said.

''Now the international crude prices have gone up from 35 to 70 dollars, so oil companies were facing problems. The price rise was inevitable. Instead of giving the public the real picture, the Chief Minister was only misleading the common man,'' he said.

''Instead of cracking down on the hoarders and blackmarketeers, the Chief Minister was planning agitations and 'rail rokos'. He is forgetting that during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, the prices of petrol and petroleum products had been raised 17 times, with the rise in petrol price ranging by Rs 15 to 25 '' he charged in a statement.

UNI MMG SSS MIR KN2056