Rahul accuses Modi of keeping fuel prices high in India

Amid rising petrol and diesel prices in India hurting the common man, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with artificially keeping them high to benefit his “friends”.

"Petrol prices are falling around the world but Modiji is keeping them high in India to fill his friends' pockets,” Rahul Gandhi said participating in the debate on the 'No Confidence Motion' against the government in Lok Sabha.

He also alleged the Modi government of waiving off Rs 2.5 lakh crore worth of loans to corporates.

The Opposition Congress had alleged earlier also that the government was "robbing" people of Rs 13,000 crore by every unjustified one rupee increase in fuel prices.

While emerging economies like Indonesia, Brazil and a few others were keeping a tight leash on prices of petrol and diesel, India resisted the move even during the softening of crude oil prices which gave enough leeway to the government to do so.

Last month, the government said it was working on a holistic solution to price volatility but nothing has come so far except certain days of downward revision in the fuel prices which still are trading near the highest levels since 2014.

Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed that the Modi government could cut petrol prices by a steep Rs 25 per litre.

He said that the Centre saved Rs 15 on every litre of petrol due to fall in crude oil prices.