In an open letter to the Centre, Minister KT Rama Rao said the only way to get rid of the Center’s bloodlust is to keep the BJP out of power
Posted on – Thu, 30 Mar 23 at 08:42pm
Telangana IT and Industry Minister KT Rama Rao (file photo).
Hyderabad: Industry minister KT Rama Rao has accused the BJP-led center of exploiting fuel prices to prey on ordinary people like dacoits, which has woefully failed to bring down prices despite the slide in crude prices, demanding an apology from the Narendra Modi government to the nation.
In an open letter to the center on Thursday, the minister said the only way to get rid of the center’s bloodlust was for the BJP to step down. He said it was time for the Modi government to stop plundering the people, otherwise the saffron party would be taught a proper lesson and accused the BJP of plotting to prevent such crucial issues from being discussed in parliament.
He said that these days, the center has been using international crude oil prices as an excuse to push up fuel prices, but these deceptions have been exposed. On the one hand, it did not give profits to the common people.
He said the Modi government claimed savings of Rs 35,000 crore in crude oil imports but only a few oil companies benefited. “In fact, the coalition government is importing crude oil from Russia at a lower price, refining it and selling it to other countries. This is hidden from the public domain,” he said.
In 2013, a barrel of crude oil cost $110 and a liter of gasoline cost Rs 76. Now, when crude oil prices have fallen to $66 a barrel, a liter of gasoline costs Rs 110, Rama Rao pointed out, adding that despite the collapse in crude prices, fuel prices have not been cut significantly, just to benefit some corporate entities.
Fuel prices have risen by 45 per cent since 2014, with knock-on effects on all basic commodity prices, breaking budgets for low and middle income groups, he said.
Apart from this, the failure of the Center to reduce fuel prices forced public transport organizations to raise fares which ultimately affected the public, the minister said, adding that inflation rates were under pressure from the failed and illogical stance of the BJP government. It also hit a 45-year high.
With crude oil prices currently at US$70 per barrel, the minister asked the central government to abolish the tax on fuel prices. He pointed out that although the Telangana state government has not increased VAT since 2014, the Center has amassed Rs 30 trillion through taxation on fuel prices.
The minister also took a swipe at several union ministers who called for the inclusion of fuel prices in GST. “The price of LPG cylinders under GST has soared from Rs 400 to Rs 1,200, making it the highest price in the world for LPG cylinders,” Rama Rao said, seeking an explanation why the center could not control LPG prices Although it is under GST.
Four BJP MPs should be held accountable
Industry Minister KT Rama Rao wants the state’s four BJP MPs to be held accountable for the center’s brazen breach of assurances made under the AP Restructuring Act.
He said the Center continued to reject the construction of a railway coach factory for Telangana, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Gujarat had approved for a Rs 20,000 crore locomotive and coach factory, and asked why it should be given priority In Telangana, the prime minister has yet to ratify the statehood of carriage works, turmeric boards, Hyderabad Metro Phase 2, ITIR project, tribal college, Bayyaram steel works and irrigation projects in the state.
“Why should the PM be on the priorities of the people of Telangana when the country is not on the PM’s priority list and why should the BJP remain in Telangana?” he asked in a tweet on Thursday.
