Mumbai, May 28 (IANS) The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President, Harshwardhan Sapkal, on Thursday claimed that the fuel price hike and shortages were entirely the result of the Modi government’s failures.

He told reporters that the fuel crisis has arisen because Prime Minister Narendra Modi criminally neglected the economy while misleading people with the promise of ‘Atmanirbharta’.

“Due to the absence of any concrete policy, the prices of petrol, diesel, CNG, and LPG gas have increased sharply. Even when it was evident that a fuel shortage was imminent, PM Modi remained busy campaigning for elections in five states, and the people of the country are now paying a heavy price for it,” he said.

Sapkal further said that ever since coming to power in 2014, the Modi government has continuously increased fuel prices.

“Government-owned oil companies, as well as private oil companies have earned enormous profits through these hikes. Had the Modi government created a reserve fund for oil procurement, this situation could have been avoided, but instead it prioritised corporate interests, which amounts to major corruption. The shortage of fuel and gas has severely impacted hotels, restaurants, small businesses, and even household cooking. The economy has collapsed because of Modi government’s flawed policies,” he claimed.

On the onion issue, Sapkal said that nearly half of Maharashtra’s Cabinet met Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, but Maharashtra received nothing substantial from the meeting.

“The government is talking about procuring onions at Rs 1,500 per quintal, but farmers are demanding a price of Rs 3,000 per quintal, along with procurement through NAFED, and that the entire onion stock of farmers should be purchased,” he added.

Sapkal recalled that PM Modi had visited Nashik in 2014 and assured them of Rs 2,400 per quintal if voted to power. “Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had echoed similar promises at the time, but now they are only talking about Rs 1,500 per quintal, which amounts to cheating farmers,” he said and warned that if the government does not accept the farmers’ demands, Congress will launch fresh protests.

He further alleged that the BJP’s conspiracy is to engineer riots in the country and return to power again in 2029. He said the atmosphere created around Bakri Eid was merely a glimpse of that agenda. According to him, the BJP deliberately injects Hindu-Muslim issues into every festival and celebration to disturb communal harmony. On the other hand, he pointed out that the BJP’s stand on the Bakri Eid issue has caused losses worth crores of rupees to millions of livestock-rearing farmers.

–IANS

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