New Delhi: As oil marketing companies raised the prices of non-subsidised LPG cylinder by Rs 25, a second hike in 15 days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the Indian economy was faltering as it did in the 1990s and the country needed a new economic vision.
“Catastrophic failures happened in the 1990s and the Congress gave the country the economy a new direction. Today again we need structural failures that warrant a new economic vision. The symptom of this catastrophic failure is the declining GDP. The PM is in panic mode and cannot fathom what to do. His core ministers are also panicking. We in the Congress know exactly what needs to be done and can send our experts to the PM,” Gandhi said addressing reporters today.
In a jibe on the government he said the only thing rising under the NDA government was the price of another kind of GDP—gas, diesel, petrol.
Comparing global crude oil prices under the UPA regime in 2014 with today, Gandhi said despite low global prices of gas, and crude oil, domestic rates were rising.
“There is a 116 pc increase in cooking gas, 42 pc increase in petrol and 55 pc increase in diesel prices today as compared to 2014 when UPA demitted office. This when global crude oil prices were 32 pc higher and international gas prices were 26 pc more in UPA times. This is truly intriguing,” the former Congress chief said, accusing the government of shifting “wealth from the poor to a select rich under the policy of demonetization followed by asset monetisation.”
While farmers, workers, salaried classes are being demonetised, select industrialist friends of the government are being monetised through “sale of public assets”, alleged Gandhi.
He said in seven years the BJP government had earned Rs 23 lakh crore from petrol, diesel and gas.
“The youth need to ask where this money has gone,” Gandhi said.
He noted that public anger against the government was “building up but was being muzzled through capture of institutions”.
We are showing restraint on account of Covid but the anger is rising and there is bound to be a massive reaction, he said.
The Congress leader steered clear of questions on what the party ruled Punjab, Chhattisgarh were doing to reduce prices of petrol and diesel.
“That is not the question here. The question is where is Rs 23 lakh crore the Centre earned?” Gandhi quipped.