Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Newly sworn in Tamil Nadu chief minister Vijay on Friday trained his guns at the BJP-led central government for the first time after assuming office. He slammed the Centre’s move to increase petrol prices after the conclusion of assembly elections in five states.He demanded that the government should rollback the decision, terming it “unacceptable”, PTI reported. This comes after petrol and diesel prices were raised by Rs 3 per litre each on Friday, amid the recent surge in global crude prices.Opposition, including Lok Sabha leader of opposition has slammed the move saying, “The mistake is the Modi government’s, the public will pay the price. The Rs 3 jolt has already arrived, the rest of the recovery will be done in instalments.”The price hike comes 16 days after the conclusion of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Fuel rates had remained unchanged throughout the polling period despite a steep rise in global oil prices driven by the conflict in West Asia.Fuel prices had largely remained unchanged since April 2022, except for a one-time cut of Rs 2 per litre on both petrol and diesel in March 2024 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The last increase in rates was recorded in April 2022.
