Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government after petrol and diesel prices were hiked by over Rs 3, saying that the burden of the government’s “mistakes” was ultimately being passed on to the common people
In a post on X, the Congress leader took a sharp swipe at the government and said that the public had already received a “Rs 3 shock” and suggested that more financial strain could follow in phases.
He said, “The Modi government’s mistake, the public will pay the price. The Rs 3 shock has already arrived, the rest of the recovery will be done in installments.”
Even Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that this is a “Modi-Govt-Made crisis” for which he said that the country’s common people are paying from their own pockets.
“The people of the country 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.
The opposition’s remarks came after petrol prices were hiked by Rs 3.14 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.11 per litre amid rising global crude oil prices and disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
While addressing a press conference at the old party headquarters, Congresd leader Randeep Singh Surjewala also slammed the government and said that the government has looted Rs 43 lakh crore from the citizens of the country in last 11 years through fuel prices — Petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG.
Surjewala said, “The BJP government has continued with the cycle of loot during the last twelve years.”
He pointed out that the BJP government had collected about Rs 43 lakh crore through taxes on petrol and diesel over the last 11 years while burdening ordinary consumers with repeated price hikes.
He said that the BJP government had institutionalised the “cycle of loot” through excessive taxation on petrol, diesel and cooking gas since coming to power in 2014.
The Congress general secretary disclosed that the Modi government had collected nearly Rs 43 lakh crore through taxes on petrol and diesel between 2014 and 2025, averaging nearly Rs 1,000 crore per day. He said these figures were not his own but those of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the government.
Drawing strong contrast between the UPA and the NDA government, he pointed out how petrol, diesel and gas were cheaper during the Congress led UPA regime even when crude prices were much higher those days than these are today.
He pointed out, petrol was priced at Rs 71.41 per litre and diesel at Rs 56.71 per litre in May 2014 during the last days of the UPA government, while currently retail prices in Delhi had risen to Rs 97.77 per litre for petrol and Rs 90.67 per litre for diesel.
He argued that despite international crude oil prices declining from around USD 108 per barrel in 2014 to nearly USD 70 per barrel before the West Asia conflict, domestic retail fuel prices had remained disproportionately high.
The senior Congress leader observed that based on prevailing crude oil prices, petrol should have retailed at around Rs 61.60 per litre and diesel at Rs 56.99 per litre, alleging that the difference represented “excessive profiteering” by the BJP government.
He also criticised the increase in CNG prices by Rs 2 per kilogram, saying the revision had taken the retail price to Rs 79.09 per kg and further increased the burden on households and transport operators.
Surjewala pointed out that between 2014 and 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. This, he added, translated into nearly 25 per cent of the petrol price and over 22 per cent of the diesel price being collected as taxes by the Centre.
He remarked that the Modi government revised excise duty rates on fuel 21 times during its tenure, including 12 increases, which he described as a pattern of extracting revenue from consumers while publicly claiming to provide relief.
Referring to the Centre’s March 27 decision to reduce excise duty on petrol from Rs 13 per litre to Rs 3 per litre and on diesel from Rs 10 per litre to zero, he said, the consumers did not get any benefit, as it was passed on to four PSUs, Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy.
Surjewala noted a pattern in the BJP government hiking the fuel prices after every election. He pointed out prices of petrol and diesel were increased shortly after polls in 2015, 2019 and 2022. Referring to fresh increases in petrol, diesel and CNG prices announced on May 15, 2026, he said that these hikes had again come immediately after elections.
On cooking gas prices, the senior Congress leader said the price of a domestic LPG cylinder had risen from Rs 412 in May 2014 under the UPA government to Rs 913 in March 2026 under the NDA government, an increase of Rs 501 or about 121.6 per cent.
He contrasted this with international LPG benchmark prices, saying that Saudi Contract Prices had fallen from around USD 880.5 per metric tonne in 2013-14 to nearly USD 542.5 per metric tonne in March 2026.
Accusing the Centre of using petroleum taxation as a “revenue extraction mechanism”, he demanded a rollback in fuel taxes and reduction in prices of petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG cylinders to provide relief to the public.
