The Centre's decision will have a negative impact on numerous sectors. The prices of daily essentials will rise, placing an additional burden on the common people: Revanth Reddy
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday criticised the Centre over increase in petrol and diesel prices, terming the move a reflection of “incompetent governance” and demanding an immediate rollback of the revised fuel rates. The CM's remarks came a day after petrol and diesel prices were increased by `3 per litre across the country.
Revanth Reddy alleged that the Centre was attempting to justify the fuel price hike by citing the ongoing tensions in West Asia, particularly the US-Iran conflict, and described it as an unfair burden on common people. He questioned the rationale behind the increase and warned that the decision would trigger a cascading impact across multiple sectors, leading to higher prices of essential commodities and increased financial strain on households.
The Chief Minister accused the Modi government of betraying public trust by allegedly making pre-election assurances that there would be no increase in petroleum product prices, only to revise the rates after the election results. He alleged that such promises were made merely to secure votes and electoral victories and later discarded.
Revanth Reddy, in a post on his X handle, also questioned how the Centre could justify the fuel price hike while simultaneously claiming that India had emerged as the world’s third-largest economy. Demanding that petrol and diesel prices be restored to previous levels, he said the decision taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “in no way justifiable” and would negatively affect numerous sectors.
The Chief Minister said the Modi government’s “ill-conceived policies” and “incompetent governance” had weakened the country’s economy. Taking a jibe at the Centre’s “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiative, he claimed that the programme had failed to deliver meaningful outcomes and had remained only a slogan aimed at attracting votes. He pointed to rising unemployment, distress among small and medium industries, declining value of the rupee and the failure to double farmers’ incomes as examples of Modi government's policy failures.
He stated that small and medium-scale industries had suffered severely, while youth continued to face uncertainty over employment opportunities. Referring to the Centre’s promise to double farmers’ incomes, he said it had turned out to be “mere empty words.” He also claimed that the rupee had steadily weakened over the past decade and that the decline had now reached its peak.
Revanth Reddy said using the Iran-Israel conflict as a reason for increasing petrol and diesel prices amounted to “fleecing the common people.” He reiterated that people believed the Modi government resorted to falsehoods only for electoral gains and described the fuel price revision as a breach of public trust. The Chief Minister demanded that the Centre immediately withdraw the increased petrol and diesel prices.
