High taxes on fuel are to cover up huge blunder of demonetisation: MNS

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Sunday flayed the central government for the ongoing the recent spate of hikes in fuel prices and said that it was imposing high taxes on petrol and diesel but blaming global factors.

Highlighting that the common man is suffering enormously due to the astronomical prices of petrol and diesel, MNS said it would 'actively participate' in Monday's Bharat Bandh called by several opposition parties. "Though the fuel prices are linked to the global markets, the central and state governments over and above that, have imposed heavy taxes on it. The country's policies cannot be based on the whims and fancies of one person," read a letter signed by MNS chief Raj Thackeray. "The petrol and diesel prices have sky rocketed and due to this, the common man is in deep anguish. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena extends its full support to the 'bandh' and will actively participate in it."

MNS accused the central government of trying to cover up demonetisation's mistakes by continuing to charge high taxes on petrol and diesel. "The demonetisation was a huge blunder and its repercussions plummeted our economy into a precarious state. To cover this up, heavy taxes are being imposed on fuel, as an effort to bring back the economic conditions to normalcy."

Fuel prices across the country have reached record highs even as the government continues to primarily blame how the dollor is performing and accusing OPEC countries of not meeting production targets previously assured. The opposition though has questioned why the domestic fuel prices cannot be brought under GST - a move that would substantially cut prices and come as a relief for people at large.