Centre profiteering from price hike, says Sonia; Pradhan rebuts charges

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had to defend the government from charges made by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi that the Centre was profiteering from repeatedly raising petrol and diesel prices. She demanded a rollback, which was echoed by Congress units in many states.

Pradhan, however, said Congress-ruled states were equally responsible for an overall rise in oil prices, caused by the government’s low revenue collection because GST collections had been low because of the hit taken by business on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a part of the party’s ‘speak up’ campaign, Gandhi in a video appeal asked the