BJP leaders step up demand, ask govt to reduce VAT on fuel

Hyderabad: Several State BJP leaders on Sunday stepped up their demand that the State government should reduce VAT on petrol and diesel to provide relief to people.

The BJP national vice-president D K Aruna demanded the government to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel. She said when the Centre had reduced excise duty on fuel, and other States have taken similar measures to provide relief to people what was the problem for the government to reduce VAT, she asked.

Lashing out at the government, Aruna charged that it has left people of Telangana to their fate, She demanded the government shun its adamant attitude and reduce VAT to provide the much-needed relief to people.

State BJP official spokesperson N V Subhash thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for slashing prices of petroleum products to mitigate owes of people. He demanded Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to cut State excise duty immediately on fuel.

"KCR, who is on tour to visit some States, should immediately direct the administration to cut excise duty to help people if really he is a poor-friendly CM, Subhash said, adding the TRS government did not cut excise duty when the BJP had slashed it on petrol and diesel the first time." "The BJP never opposed visiting States, but KCR, who is on a political yatra, should think about people of Telangana to provide them further relief by reducing excise duty, he said.

He quipped "whenever KCR feels insecure about corruption charges and the inefficiency of his government, he enacts a drama and visits the national capital to meet the Opposition leaders."

Referring to remarks of the Congress party that "too little and too late", Subhash asserted that the Modi government first thinks of people's welfare and acts as per situation. He quipped that the Congress always oppose good work of the BJP government quoting an old adage "Der Hai Ander Nahi" (there is no darkness, but it may be little late).

Senior party leader and State media convener Vajja Sudhakar Sharma thanked the Centre and the PM for providing relief to the middle classes and the poor by reducing prices of fuel and cooking gas. He said "the Modi-mark governance's top priority is people's welfare". Sharma demanded the State ministers to convince the CM to at least reduce Rs. 10 on fuel price.