Hyderabad: Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Friday accused the BJP-led Central government of deceiving people by increasing fuel prices immediately after elections in four states and one Union Territory.
Addressing the media in Hyderabad, the minister alleged that the Centre had deliberately avoided raising petrol and diesel prices until the elections concluded.
He said the government announced the fuel price hike soon after the election process ended, placing an additional burden on common people, especially in Telangana.
Fuel price hike criticised by Telangana minister
Ponnam Prabhakar said Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar had repeatedly assured the public that petrol and diesel prices would not increase.
However, he alleged that the Narendra Modi government later approved the hike despite those assurances.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the minister referred to Modi’s recent visit to Hyderabad. He said the Prime Minister had advised people to reduce fuel consumption and avoid unnecessary spending on oil and gold.
Prabhakar claimed those remarks had signalled the Centre’s intention to increase fuel prices sharply.
Fuel price hike opposed by Congress party
The minister also questioned the Centre’s explanation that global war conditions had caused the increase.
He said the conflict had been continuing for a long time and was not a sudden development.
Ponnam Prabhakar said the Congress party would strongly oppose the fuel price hike. He demanded that BJP leaders respond to the issue and apologise to the people.