Aurangabad / Mumbai, Mar 22 : Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole on Tuesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government for hiking the prices of fuel right after the conclusion of assembly elections in five states across the country. “The Modi government has rubbed salt on the wounds of the common man by increasing the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG (domestic cooking gas). People of the country who are already reeling under the burden of inflation, have now been further pushed under it,” he said in a press statement. The prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and edible oil have been steadily rising ever since the BJP government came to power, he pointed. “Today, the price of LPG has risen by Rs 50 per cylinder while petrol and diesel by 80 paise. Already, the prices of petrol and diesel are more than Rs 100 per litre and price of a gas cylinder has spiked close to Rs 1,000,” the MPCC chief noted. The government has hiked the fuel rates despite sourcing crude oil from Russia at reduced rates, he pointed. “The price of diesel has been hiked by Rs 25 per litre for bulk buyers like Railways, ST Corporations, power projects, cement production and malls, as a result, inflation has hit a seven-month high and its impact will ultimately fall on the common man,” Patole said. On the one hand, inflation is rising while on the other, people’s incomes are declining, and this is a double whammy for the common man, he added. VKB SS 2032