Fuel price hike will lead to further inflation, growth estimates will be lowered considerably: Congress

New Delhi (TIP): The Congress on Friday 15, attacked the Modi government over the petrol and diesel price hike, saying it is bound to lead to further inflation and growth estimates will be lowered considerably.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that with international oil prices soft or declining for years, the Indian National Congress had been urging that those benefits should be passed on to Indian consumers and that domestic prices of gas, petrol, and diesel should be reduced.
That, however, did not happen and consumers were “fleeced”, he said.
“Now that international oil prices are climbing up because of the war in West Asia unleashed by the PM’s good friends—the US and Israel—and assembly elections are over, the Modi Government has increased petrol and diesel prices after having hiked commercial LPG prices earlier.
“This is bound to lead to further inflation that is now projected to be close to 6% for this financial year. Growth estimates will be lowered considerably,” Ramesh said.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by Rs 3 per litre each on Friday, the first rate increase in more than four years, amid mounting losses of fuel retailers due to surging global crude prices.
BJP questions Rahul’s foreign trips, alleges income-expense mismatch
The BJP on Thursday, May 14, questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s foreign visits, alleging a major mismatch between his declared income and expenditure on these visits.Addressing a press conference, BJP leader Sambit Patra claimed that Gandhi, who has been in elected office for nearly 22 years, undertook 54 declared foreign trips during this period. While the visits are publicly known, the funding sources behind them have not been disclosed.
Patra claimed that the total expenditure on Gandhi’s foreign travel was nearly Rs 60 crore. Citing income details from 2013-14 to 2022-23, Patra claimed that Gandhi earned around Rs 11 crore over the last 10 years and questioned how such a large amount was spent on overseas travel.
According to Patra, the total spending on Rahul Gandhi’s foreign travel amounts to nearly Rs 60 crore. He also claimed that income details from 2013-14 to 2022-23 show Rahul Gandhi earned around Rs 11 crore during the 10-year period.