Petrol, diesel to get expensive after April 29: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday warned that the prices of petrol and diesel will be increased after the assembly elections conclude on April 29. He also attacked the government for allegedly profiteering from low global crude oil prices and said it will now put burden on the public as the prices are rising. ''Election relief over, inflation's heat is on its way! After April 29th, watch out - petrol, diesel, everything will get expensive. ''When (crude) oil was cheap, the Modi government pocketed the profits. Now that it's expensive, it'll dump the burden on you,'' Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. ''A government that loots when it's cheap - leaving the public to bear the brunt of inflation,'' he alleged. The second phase of polling in West Bengal will be held on April 29. Assembly polls in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu are already over and the results will be out on May 4. Global oil prices are on the rise due to the West Asia war. Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28 and since then the global oil supply chain has been disrupted due to the closure of Strait of Hormuz. The government has no plans to raise petrol and diesel prices, a senior official said on Tuesday, dismissing speculation of a hike after polling in West Bengal ends on April 29. Retail petrol and diesel prices have remained unchanged for a record fourth year, even as conflict in West Asia has pushed crude oil costs up more than 50 per cent over the past two months. The widening gap between input costs and pump prices has left state-run fuel retailers incurring heavy losses - with some estimates pegging daily loss at about Rs 2,400 crore - fuelling speculation of an imminent price hike after politically charged assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry conclude on Wednesday. ''There is no proposal to increase petrol and diesel prices,'' Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said at a news briefing on the fallout of developments in West Asia.

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