Union Ministers have been either silent or vocal in defending the high prices. Ironically, BJP supporters who were asking Indians complaining of high fuel prices to migrate to Afghanistan or Pakistan, where it is cheaper, also jumped in to thank the Prime Minister for the reduction.“Prices go up because of market conditions but they come down because of Modi,” quipped an observer while the Congress said the message was clear. Defeat BJP and ensure cheaper fuel. The party took a swipe at the BJP and the Government for ignoring persistent demands for lowering central excise on fuel and asserted that this was the fallout of the losses BJP suffered in byelections.Till Wednesday excise duty on petrol was Rs.32.98, which, when UPA-2 left office was just Rs.9.48 per litre. In other words, excise duty on petrol had become 348% higher than in 2014. The excise duty on diesel till Wednesday was Rs. 31.83, an increase of 894% than Rs. 3.56 in 2014. After the reduction in Excise Duty from Thursday, central excise duty on Petrol has come down to ₹27.90 and Diesel to ₹21.80.
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