Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that there was a leadership crisis in the government , saying that while other countries are providing relief to their people, the BJP government here continues to “loot” them. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
After the third fuel price hike in eight days, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday (May 23, 2026) alleged that the government was “looting” the public’s earnings in instalments.
In a post in Hindi on X, Mr. Kharge claimed that there was a leadership crisis in the government , saying that while other countries are providing relief to their people, the BJP government here continues to “loot” them.
“Petrol has now crossed ₹100, this time around…Looting the public’s earnings in instalments! The BJP’s appetite isn’t satisfied even after slapping a central tax of ₹1,000 crore daily on petrol-diesel… When international prices were low, they didn’t pass on the benefits to the people – instead, they looted them relentlessly,” he said in his post.
Mr. Kharge claimed that when the crisis hit, the BJP leadership got involved in elections and after the elections, and they preached sacrifice. “Then, in just 8 days, they hiked petrol-diesel prices three times,” he said. “We were told that prices in India are the lowest compared to foreign countries.”
“When the war in West Asia broke out and PM Modi was busy feeding us Indians the ‘everything’s fine’ sedative, other countries were providing relief to their citizens,” he claimed.
The Congress chief cited the example of Italy saying it cut excise on fuel, giving their people some relief, while Australia reduced excise duty, slashing petrol prices by about ₹17 per litre for citizens.
He also said that Germany lowered taxes on oil, reducing fuel prices by ₹17-19 per litre, while the U.K. provided 100 pounds in oil aid to households and cut taxes on fuel and electricity.
Ireland’s 250 million euro relief package brought petrol prices down by about 0.15 euro/litre and diesel by 0.20 euro/litre, he said.
“Narendra Modi ji, tell us — Who all are getting a share of this installment-based loot? Why are you so compromised? “The real crisis in this government is one of leadership — 140 crore Indians have now figured that out,” Mr. Kharge alleged.
Petrol and diesel prices were raised by 87-91 paise per litre on Saturday (May 23, 2026), taking the cumulative increase in retail fuel rates to nearly ₹5 a litre in under 10 days as state-owned firms passed on soaring international oil prices.
The latest revision pushed petrol prices higher by 87 paise per litre and diesel by up to 91 paise across the country, according to industry sources.
The back-to-back increases follow a prolonged freeze in retail fuel prices and come amid elevated crude oil prices in the global market.
With the latest hike, petrol and diesel prices have risen close to ₹5 a litre since the State-owned oil marketing companies on May 15 ended the hiatus in rate revision, stoking concerns over inflationary pressures and higher transportation costs across the economy.
Petrol and diesel prices were increased by ₹3 per litre each on May 15 and 90 paise a litre on May 19.
Published – May 23, 2026 02:41 pm IST
