Modi raj is arrogant, autocratic: Shatrughan Sinha on fuel prices

New Delhi: On the backdrop of impending West Bengal bypolls, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shatrughan Sinha came down on the Narendra Modi led Union government over the rising fuel prices. Sinha said that the Modi government is arrogant and autocratic, NDTV reported.

He said that while Atal Bihari Vajpayee's term as Prime Minister was "lokshahi (democracy)", Narendra Modi's term is tanashahi (dictatorship)". Sinha was a Union minister in the Vajpayee cabinet. He said, "There's misplaced pride and arrogance...Do whatever you feel like," NDTV reports.

Sinha said that the Union government had hiked the fuel prices eight times in nine days. He asked whether it had been heard of such a rate of hike in petrol-diesel prices before. The TMC leader, an actor turned politician, is going to contest in the Bengal bypolls from the Asansol constituency on April 12.

Petrol and diesel prices were today hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last ten days to ₹ 6.40 per litre.

In Delhi, petrol and diesel are being sold at ₹101.81 per litre and ₹93.07 per litre, respectively, while in Mumbai, which has the costliest fuel among metro cities, petrol and diesel prices per litre are at ₹116.72 and ₹100.94 after an 84-paisa hike. In Chennai, the price of petrol is ₹107.45 and diesel price is ₹97.52, an increase of 76 paise. The petrol price in Kolkata is ₹111.35 per litre, and diesel is ₹96.22 per litre. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state, depending upon the incidence of local taxation. This is the ninth increase in prices since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22.

Congress had initiated a nationwide protest against the price hike, led by Rahul Gandhi. Rahul's staged his protest at Vijay Chowk near Parliament.