On fuel price rise, Sonia tells PM not to profiteer off people

New Delhi, June 16: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while commenting on the rise in fuel prices has said that the surging prices have broken the back of the common man.

In a letter to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, she said that she is deeply distressed that in these difficult times, since the beginning of March, the government has taken the wholly insensitive decision to increase petrol and diesel process on no less than ten separate occasions.

Your government is seeking to earn an additional revenue of nearly Rs 2,60,000 crores by these ill-advised hikes in excise duty. I see no logic in why the government would even consider such a price increase at a time when the economic impact of COVID-19 is depriving millions of jobs and livelihood.

Given that the price of crude oil has fallen approximately by 9 per cent over the last week, the government is doing nothing short of profiteering off its people, when they are down and out, Sonia Gandhi also wrote.

I urge you to roll back the increases and pass on the benefits of the low oil prices to the people, the Congress president also wrote.

Read the full letter here: