Get Punjab to reduce taxes on fuel, SAD asks Rahul

A day after a Congress shutdown against rising fuel prices, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday asked its chief Rahul Gandhi to direct his party's government in Punjab to reduce state taxes on fuel to ensure relief to the common man.

Claiming that concrete action and not "political tamashas" will help the people, the Shiromani Akali Dal leader said Punjab was collecting a tax of Rs 23 and Rs 11 per litre respectively on petrol and diesel.

"This, along with 42 per cent central devolution of excise, was resulting in an annual tax collection of Rs 5,800 crore from petroleum products in Punjab."

He said that Rahul Gandhi should direct Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to follow the examples of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and reduce Value Added Tax and surcharge on petrol and diesel immediately.

"Rahul Gandhi should also tell Punjabis why he has not given such direction till now even though petroleum prices in Punjab are the highest in north India and the third highest in the country," the former Deputy Chief Minister said in a statement here.

The SAD was exposing the Congress double speak on this most sensitive issue that concerns the well-being of the common man, Badal said.

"Surely, the state government can give relief to the common man as well as the farming community by reducing its share in petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre," the Akali leader added.

--IANS

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