Mumbai, Mar 24 (IANS): Attacking the Centre over the spiralling inflation, Shiv Sena on Thursday said Bharatiya Janata Party has unleashed the 'monster' of fuel prices hike to bulldoze the common masses after the Assembly elections ended in five states this month.
Prior to the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab, the Centre had decided to defer any hikes in prices of fuel or cooking, but after the polls, the BJP has revealed its true colours.
"The Opposition parties had even warned that the situation would change after the elections... But the government raked up issues like 'hijab', 'Pakistan', 'Hindu-Muslims', etc., and blocked the minds of the people who voted overwhelmingly for the BJP," said the Sena.
In sharp edits in the party newspapers 'Saamana' and 'Dopahar Ka Saamana', the Sena said that after the polls, the government has resorted to the old adage, "once our work is done, the need is over" and uncorked the demons of fuel price hikes on the unsuspecting masses.
"Even if the people are jolted awake now, what's the use... Once their votes are taken, their utility is also over, at least for the time being... The Opposition's apprehensions on this count proved to be true," said the edits.
The Sena pointed at the latest series of hikes of petrol-diesel, and also domestic cooking gas cylinders (14 kg) touching nearly Rs 1,000, and commercial gas cylinders (19 kg) at almost Rs 2,000.
The voters in the four states 'donated' power to the BJP which has reciprocated with a 'gift' of inflation by snatching away whatever money was left in the peoples' pockets.
"This has been the policy of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi... When elections are due, fuel prices are kept on hold, once the polling is over, they hike rates in an inhuman manner on the public," slammed the Sena.
Simultaneously it plays a cruel joke on the citizens claiming that despite 137 day of spiralling crude oil prices in the global markets, they "did a favour" by not effecting a fuel price hike.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman even said that her government was more successful in checking inflation compared with the previous UPA government, but blamed the latest hikes on the Russia-Ukraine war.
The government even announced that it had managed to procure cheaper fuel from Russia though the global prices were skyrocketing, yet it crushed the people with the increase in prices of fuels here since the election season is over, said the Sena.