Congress says citizens paying price for Modi Govt’s ‘failed leadership’ amid rising inflation

The Congress on Friday accused the Prime Minister-led BJP Government of pushing the country into an economic and inflation crisis through what it described as “failed leadership”, excessive fuel taxation and policies that have steadily increased the burden on ordinary citizens despite fluctuations in global crude oil prices.

With petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG prices rising amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Opposition party alleged that the Centre had once again shifted the burden of economic stress onto the common man immediately after elections, while continuing to collect massive revenues through fuel taxes.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the country was facing not only an international fuel crisis, but also a “leadership crisis” under BJP.

“The people of India must understand that, alongside the current International Fuel Crisis, the major reason for the economic crisis in India is the ‘leadership crisis’ in the Modi Government, the lack of visionary thinking and incompetence that is overflowing to the brim,” Kharge said.

He termed the present situation a “Modi-Govt-made crisis” and said ordinary citizens were being forced to pay the price through rising petrol, diesel and LPG costs.

Kharge said rising diesel prices create a cascading inflationary impact across the economy, affecting transport costs, industries, household budgets and farmers. Referring to the conflict in West Asia, he alleged that when the war began, the country was repeatedly told that “sab changa si”, while concerns raised by the Congress were dismissed.

“No concrete steps were taken, instead, due to American ‘permission’ and ‘allow’, our sovereignty was put up as collateral,” he said.

The Congress President also questioned reports suggesting that India was seeking an extension of the US waiver, permitting purchase of Russian oil.

“In March, a 30-day waiver was given to buy Russian oil, in which America had written humiliating words like ‘allow’ and ‘permission’. Why has Modi ji brought the country to a position where it has to beg for ‘permission’?” he asked.

Kharge further alleged that despite earning nearly Rs 43 lakh crore through central taxes on petrol and diesel over the last 10 years, the Modi government failed to provide relief to citizens when international crude oil prices were low.

Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said the Congress had repeatedly demanded that the benefits of lower global crude oil prices be passed on to consumers through reduced domestic fuel prices.

“For years when international oil prices were soft or declining, 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,” Ramesh said.

He alleged that after Assembly elections concluded, the government once again increased fuel prices after already raising commercial LPG prices.

“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 Goernment has increased petrol and diesel prices,” he said.

Ramesh warned that the increase would push inflation further upward, with inflation projected to touch nearly 6 per cent during the current financial year, while growth estimates were expected to fall considerably.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the BJP of imposing what he called a “cycle of loot” through relentless taxation of petrol and diesel over the last 11 years.

Surjewala claimed the Modi government had collected nearly Rs 43 lakh crore by taxing petrol and diesel since 2014, amounting to almost Rs 1,000 crore every day.

Citing Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell data, he said petrol prices stood at Rs 71.41 per litre and diesel at Rs 56.71 per litre on May 26, 2014 and it was the Congress-led UPA government till then. According to him, petrol in Delhi was now retailing at Rs 97.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 90.67 per litre.

Surjewala argued that when crude oil prices had fallen from nearly USD 108 per barrel in 2014 to around USD 70 per barrel before the West Asia conflict, petrol should have been priced at around Rs 61.60 per litre and diesel at Rs 56.99 per litre.

“The rest is sheer BJP loot,” he alleged. He further claimed that from 2014 to 2025, the Modi government imposed an average excise duty of Rs 19.70 per litre on petrol and Rs 15.50 per litre on diesel, forcing consumers to pay nearly 25 per cent of petrol prices and over 22 per cent of diesel prices as taxes.

According to Surjewala, excise duty on fuel was revised 21 times under the Modi government, including 12 hikes.

He also alleged that the Centre’s March 27, 2026 decision to reduce excise duty on petrol from Rs 13 per litre to Rs 10 and on diesel from Rs 10 to zero was designed primarily to benefit oil companies rather than consumers.

“About 20 per cent of this benefit got transferred to private oil companies like Nayara Energy and Reliance, while not a rupee effectively reached the common man,” he claimed.

Surjewala further said the BJP government repeatedly increased fuel prices after elections, citing price hikes after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, the 2019 general elections and the 2022 Assembly polls.

He also highlighted the increase in CNG and LPG prices, stating that CNG prices had risen by Rs 2 per kg to Rs 79.09 per kg. LPG cylinder prices, he said, increased from Rs 412 in May 2014 to Rs 913 in March 2026, while commercial LPG cylinder prices rose from Rs 1,541 in 2014 to Rs 3,071.50 in 2026. Even the price of 5 kg LPG cylinders, he added, was increased by Rs 261 from May 1 this year.