Cong raises bar on BJP's vow to cut diesel price

A day after senior BJP leaders indicated that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government would reduce the price of diesel, the Congress on Tuesday swooped in to demand a steep cut in the rate of the fuel, threatening to launch a nationwide agitation if the need is not met.

“Despite prices of international crude having come down by more than 15 per cent since the Modi government took over, price of diesel in the domestic market has gone up by 3.9 per cent.

Diesel today is available at Rs 58.97 per litre. We demand that the diesel price be brought down to Rs 37.75 per litre immediately. If it is not done, we will launch a public protest throughout the country,” party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, while winding up election campaigns in Maharashtra on Monday, had promised that diesel prices would be brought down by Rs 2 or 2.5 after the completion of the Assembly polls.