As high oil price drills hole in people's pocket, social media goes ablaze

Twitterati ask why Tinseltown celebrities and other bigwigs are not reacting to the fuel price hike as they did during Manmohan Singh's tenure as the prime minister

With high oil prices drilling a hole in their pockets, the Indian common man is fuming. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram came down heavily on the government on Wednesday morning, tweeting that it was possible to cut petrol and diesel rates by Rs 25 a litre, but the Centre would cheat the public and bring down prices by only Rs 1-2 per litre. 

"Bonanza to central government is Rs 25 on every litre of petrol. This money rightfully belongs to the average consumer. Central government saves Rs 15 on every litre of petrol due to fall in crude oil prices. It also puts additional tax of Rs 10 on every litre of petrol," he added.

Petrol prices in Delhi at Rs 77.17/litre and Mumbai at Rs 84.99/litre, Diesel prices at Rs 68.34/litre in Delhi and Rs 72.76/litre in Mumbai.

— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2018

 

As reported earlier, the Prime Minister's Office will on Wednesday take a final call on whether to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel.

Meanwhile, BJP President Amit Shah said that the issue will be resolved within three to four days.

Here's what transpired on Twitter related to the rising fuel prices:

1. Former India cricketer and MP Kirti Azad said that petrol is inching towards its 'maiden century'. 

#Uff yeh mehengai. #GDP (Gas Diesel Petrol) of India is definitely rising. It has beaten the Dollar and nearing its maiden century. All the best. It is pertinent to note that the prices were static during the elections in #Karnataka. A mere coincidence or by design. Your take pic.twitter.com/Zbqh3czhbE

— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzadMP) May 23, 2018

2. Twitterati pounced upon Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar after he deleted an UPA-era tweet that urged the public to clean up their cycles when petrol prices rose. 

Superstar @akshaykumar deletes his outrage tweet on rising fuel prices, as it could have disappointed our soldiers at the front. No other foreigner cares for Indian Army this much.  pic.twitter.com/CwCvPURR5u

— Rofl Gandhi (@RoflGandhi_) May 21, 2018

3. Some asked why weren't Tinseltown celebrities and other bigwigs reacting to the recent hike in fuel prices like they did during Manmohan Singh's tenure as the prime minister.

Am thinking of all the bravehearts from Sr Bachchan to Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher to Chetan Bhagat, Ramdev to Sri Fraud who piled on to Dr Manmohan Singh for the petrol price hikes. But not a squeak against Modi. What happened to the black belts, big talk, and heroics?

— IndiaExplained (@IndiaExplained) May 21, 2018

 
4. There have been reports saying the Centre had asked Oil Marketing Companies to hold back on raising rates until the Karnataka election got over. Congress President Rahul Gandhi too alleged that the Modi government was fooling people. "Karnataka finishes voting, FUEL prices rise to a 4 yr. high! The Key Principle of Modinomics: fool as many people as you can, as often as you can. "

A Twitter user came up with a feisty meme to buttress the same point using an iconic advertisement.

The Best troll Meme about Petrol and Diesel price hike in India. 

The poor Petroleum Companies were struggling to keep the price down before Karnataka election. ;)

Via : @tittoantony pic.twitter.com/sEG7x48Hwq

— Advaid (@Advaidism) May 15, 2018

5. Cartoonists Manjul and Kirish Bhatt shared interesting sketches mocking the hike.

#Petrol #PetrolPrice #PeTrolled #diesel #DieselPrice
My #cartoon for @firstpost
Details: https://t.co/L1pXXpTJaA pic.twitter.com/d5IOGfeIb5

— MANJUL (@MANJULtoons) May 21, 2018

भैया जल्दी.... #Cartoon from archive on #petrolpricehike pic.twitter.com/yo09C6HeFm

— Kirtish Bhatt (@Kirtishbhat) May 21, 2018

6. However, Ekta Kapoor still has her hopes up. According to the film and television producer, the fuel price hike won't really matter much. Here's what she said:

Even if petrol prices are at its highest, men will take women for drives & in today's time, women will take men for drives. This isn't the movie that you're going to stop watching as at this time you need to spend less on driving & more in theatre: Ekta Kapoor on fuel price hike pic.twitter.com/kyhaowGHVN

— ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2018

7. But, that doesn't mean Bollywood isn't intelligent enough as BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimhan might like to suggest. Check out this tweet from Farhan Akhtar:

₹84 per litre mubarak to you and your loved ones.
Actual cost I believe is ₹31, based on info i could find online (do correct me if I’m wrong, happy to learn) .. the rest are central & state taxes, cess & commissions. Just so you know that the price can be brought down.

— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) May 23, 2018

8. Last, but not the least, Amul came up with the most subtle jibe at the increase in fuel prices:

Source: @Amul_Coop