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Thursday, Jun 05, 2008
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“Difficult decision in trying circumstances”

Anita Joshua

Congress compares price increase during the NDA and UPA regimes

Congress urges State governments to cushion
the blow by reducing Value Added Tax
“Instead of criticising, Opposition party should look at the track record of its own government”

NEW DELHI: Faced with a hike in the prices of petroleum products in an election year, the Congress on Wednesday said the government led by it at the Centre put national interest over partisan politics while taking the “tough decision”.

Maintaining that the government had kept the increase to the bare minimum, the Congress urged the State governments to cushion the blow by reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Sales Tax on petroleum products.

Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari, while describing it as a “difficult decision in trying circumstances,”sought to take the battle of words into the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) camp with a comparison of the hikes in the prices of petroleum products during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regimes.

Upset with the BJP’s description of the UPA and the Congress as an “economic terrorist,” Mr. Tiwari said that instead of hurling such accusations against the government, the principal Opposition party should have introspected and looked at the track record of its own government.

Quotes official data

Quoting official data, the Congress pointed out that the price of petrol had gone up 21 times, that of diesel 17 times, LPG thrice and kerosene twice during the NDA rule when the price of crude had increased only by $22.5 from 1998 to 2004.

Moreover, except in the case of petrol, the total hike made by the UPA in kerosene, diesel and LPG prices was still less than the increases during NDA days whereas the price of crude in the international market had gone up by $99.14 since May 2004.

While seeking to drive home the point that the Congress had not abandoned “aam aadmi,” Mr. Tiwari said the price of kerosene sold through the public distribution system was left untouched.

The increase in kerosene under this dispensation is of 0.08 paise on account of VAT. Under the NDA regime, the price of kerosene went up by Rs. 6.49 in a span of just three years.

In the case of LPG, the quantum of hike during the NDA rule added up to Rs. 109.60, whereas the UPA increased it only by Rs. 83.15, including the latest increase of Rs. 50.

Similarly, in the case of diesel, the increase under the NDA rule was higher at Rs. 12.87, compared to the UPA’s total of Rs. 12.02.

As for petrol, he conceded that the increase during UPA regime was higher at Rs. 14.51, against the NDA’s Rs.11.77. “But, don’t forget, the price of crude went up by 203 per cent between May 2004 and March 2008,” Mr. Tiwari pointed out.

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