Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is under intense political pressure, wrote A K Bhattacharya in a Business Standard column on Monday, adding that Pradhan "is being asked to reduce retail prices of petrol and diesel, which have now risen to the levels that prevailed a little more than three years ago. In May 2014, the monthly average price of the Indian basket of crude oil was almost double of what it is today". (Read Bhattacharya's opinion piece: Dharmendra Pradhan's Chakravyuha)
Pradhan, for his part, on Monday said that fuel prices could come down by Diwali, which is next

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