The Congress is planning a countrywide agitation from September 20 against heavy taxes on the fuel
The main Opposition party, the Congress, on Friday demanded a white paper on taxes levied on fuels and the gains accrued by the government even after declaring the open market policy. Party spokesperson Ajay Maken said in every 100 rupees Rs 51.78 went in taxes for petrol and Rs 44.40 for diesel. The Congress is planning a countrywide agitation from September 20 against heavy taxes on the fuel. The agitation will begin by starting a signature campaign at petrol pumps from September 17 and launching a big protest on September 20 in the national Capital.
"We fight for the people, tooth and nail, until this draconian taxation regime is withdrawn," Maken said. He alleged the increase in excise duty of Petrol since May 2014 is 133.47 per cent, and the same on diesel is 400.86 per cent after the central excise duty was hiked 11 times since the BJP came to power.
He said while international crude oil prices came down by more than 52 per cent since the Modi government took over on May 26, 2014, petrol prices skyrocketed to a three-year high. He also said that total contribution of petroleum to the Central and state exchequers would touch Rs 5.24 lakh crore in 2016-17.
Maken said on August 2, 2017, the BJP Government decided to increase the dealer commission on petrol by Re 1 per litre and on diesel 72 paise per litre, the cost of which was passed on to the consumers. It costed an additional amount of Rs 12,000 crore.
Accusing the BJP government of "looting" the common people and "profiteering" at their expense, he said the party would continue its fight "until this draconian taxation regime is withdrawn". He said the party would fight this battle to reduce taxes on every available forum and challenged the BJP to come out with a white paper on taxes on fuels and the gains thereof. "We fight for the people, tooth and nail, until this draconian taxation regime is withdrawn," he told reporters. "Looting people, profiteering at their expense and squeezing their hard earned money is the sole aim of the BJP government. While crude oil prices plummet, petrol-diesel prices skyrocket!" he said. He said while the Modi government has spelt out "absurd" reasons such as "Hurricanes Harvey and Irma' for the increase in petrol and diesel prices and has dealt a devastating blow to the savings of the common people by brazenly increasing central excise duty 11 times in the past 3.5 years.
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