Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 25: The Opposition leaders stepped up their attack on the Narendra Modi government accusing it of burdening consumers and failing to shield the public from rising costs as the prices of petrol and diesel were again hiked on Monday, the fourth time in a span of just 10 days.
The latest rise was at a comparatively steeper ₹2.7 to ₹2.8 per litre across the country and across all variants. With the latest hike, the standalone prices of the two retail fuels have cumulatively increased about ₹7.5 per litre across four tranches since the first hike on May 15.
Further, the price of petrol in Delhi breached the ₹100 per litre-mark Monday — a level that it had last scaled four years back in May 2022 coinciding with the Russian-Ukraine conflict. On Monday price of petrol in Delhi rose ₹2.61 per litre to ₹102.12 per litre. Price of diesel increased ₹2.71 per litre to ₹95.20 per litre.
Among the four metros, that is, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, price of petrol rose most sharply in Kolkata while Mumbai observed the sharpest increase in price of diesel. Kolkata woke up to a ₹2.87 per litre increase in price of petrol, making it now available at ₹113.51 per litre. Price of diesel in Kolkata increased ₹2.80 per litre to ₹99.82 per litre. On largely similar lines, price of petrol in Mumbai rose ₹2.72 per litre to ₹111.21 per litre while that of diesel increased ₹2.81 per litre to ₹97.83 per litre.
Chennai experienced a comparatively lower magnitude of hike though effective price levels were relatively similar. Price of petrol in Chennai increased ₹2.46 per litre to ₹107.77 per litre while price of diesel spurred ₹2.57 per litre to ₹99.55 per litre.
India’s oil-marketing companies kept fuel prices steady till the elections to the five states were completed amidst elevating crude oil prices for about three months before passing on some of the pressure starting May 15. The first in the series of hikes increased prices of the two retail fuels by ₹3 per litre. Thereafter, prices were hiked 90 paise per litre each in two separate tranches.
India’s crude oil basket until May 22 in the ongoing month has averaged $107.96 per barrel. Further, the global benchmark Brent crude futures (July) Monday morning fell about 4.8% to $98.59 per barrel amid cues of a peace deal between Iran and U.S. reversing prolonged stay at above $100 per barrel.
The opposition leaders strongly criticised the Modi government for the lack of advance planning to meet the situation arising out of the US – Iran war. While the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the increase as “daily robbery,” Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi “mehangai manav” [inflation man]. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal questioned why India was not sourcing cheaper crude oil from Russia and Iran.
In a post on X, Mr Kharge said the “daily assault of fuel loot” was continuing, noting that this was the fourth hike in ten days. “The Modi government has sprinkled petrol to burn the savings of common people,” the Congress chief said.
Mr Kharge alleged that despite international crude oil prices not witnessing an increase comparable to that seen during the UPA years, retail fuel prices have risen sharply under the present government. He claimed petrol prices have increased from ₹71.41 per litre in 2014 to ₹102.12 in 2026, while diesel prices rose from ₹56.71 to ₹95.20 during the same period.
The Congress president also linked Monday’s hike to gains in shares of public sector oil companies and alleged that the government prioritised “profit over people.” “Every fuel price hike is another blow to household budgets,” he said, adding that farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises were among those most affected. “We repeat. Who is benefitting from this daily robbery?” Mr Kharge asked.
Mr Gandhi also attacked the Prime Minister, alleging that fuel prices were being increased in “instalments.” “Mehangai manav’ Modi strikes again. He raises petrol and diesel prices in instalments—ensuring that your pockets are quietly picked, bit by bit,” he said in a post on X.
Mr Gandhi claimed that he had warned of an impending economic storm, but the government had delayed the increases because of elections. “‘Mehangai manav’ Modi has just one job: promises during elections, and attacking people’s pockets at other times,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal said rising inflation was imposing hardship on “140 crore people” and asked what compulsion prevented the government from purchasing cheaper fuel. “Russia and Iran are offering us cheaper and sufficient oil and gas. Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi not buying cheap oil from them?” he asked in a video message on X.
Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak widened the criticism beyond fuel prices, raising concerns over oil supply disruptions and the economy. She asked what the government did to bring back ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
The BJP hits back at Rahul Gandhi with the patty national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia calling the Congress leader “foolish, immature, and anarchic.” Bhatia, at a press conference in New Delhi, said Gandhi was only trying to weaken the country. “Rahul Gandhi, if your motive is to spread anarchy, we are also determined to make India stronger,” the BJP spokesperson said, while highlighting that India has effectively dealt with the crisis, as the rest of the world continues to struggle due to the US-Iran war.
“For nearly 65 to 70 days, a war-like situation persisted, yet in India, petrol prices did not rise even by Rs 1. The primary reason for this was the government’s intent that no burden should fall on the common man,” he added.
