Revanth Reddy attacks Centre over fuel price hike, seeks rollback

Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday demanded an immediate rollback of the recent hike in petrol and diesel prices, accusing the Centre of burdening ordinary citizens and weakening the economy through “ill-conceived policies”.

In a post on X, Reddy described the Narendra Modi-led government’s decision to raise fuel prices as “unjustifiable” and said citing the US-Iran war as the reason for the hike was unfair to the public.

He said the increase in petrol and diesel prices would adversely affect multiple sectors and further strain common people already dealing with rising costs.

Reddy also accused the BJP-led Centre of misleading voters ahead of the recent Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory.

“Before the elections, the PM Modi government repeatedly stated that petroleum product prices will not be increased. Yet, less than ten days after the election results, prices were raised by more than Rs 3. This amounts to betraying the people's trust. People believe Modi 'lies' merely for votes and electoral victories. This is a betrayal of public trust. I demand that the central government immediately roll back the increased petrol and diesel prices,” Reddy said.

The Telangana chief minister further alleged that the Centre’s economic policies had weakened the country despite repeated claims about economic growth and self-reliance.

According to him, the government’s ‘Atmanirbhar’ push had remained largely a political slogan rather than a successful policy initiative.

"Small and medium-scale industries have suffered. A situation has emerged where there is no guarantee of employment for the youth. The promise of doubling farmers’ incomes has remained only a promise. Over the past ten years, the value of the rupee has been steadily declining, and now that decline has reached its peak," he said.

Reddy also questioned how the Centre could justify the fuel price hike while simultaneously projecting India as the world’s third-largest economy.

With PTI inputs