Puducherry Assembly election: Rahul Gandhi creating fuel price scare, says Amit Shah

Accusing Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi of creating a “scare” in the country through his remarks on fuel price, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said in poll-bound Puducherry that India was the only country in the region able to manage supply and prices of petrol and diesel despite a spike in crude oil rate following the war in West Asia.

“Because of the policies followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country was insulated from the impact of crude oil price hike. India is the only country where there is no increase in petrol and diesel prices. We are not facing shortage of fuel or the issue of price rise as the Centre was able to manage the situation well. But Mr. Gandhi is creating an unnecessary scare in the country,” Mr. Shah said while campaigning for party candidate and Home Minister A. Namassivayam at Mannadipet Assembly constituency.

The BJP leader said Mr. Gandhi was speaking on petrol and diesel price as the neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, had hiked fuel rate on a substantial scale. The neighbouring countries are also witnessing long queues at fuel stations because of petrol and diesel shortage, he said. “Mr. Gandhi was not able to differentiate between fuel price in India and Pakistan,” he said.

Promising to take Puducherry to the next level of development if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returned to power, Mr. Shah said much of the first term of the NDA in the Union Territory was devoted to rectifying the “mistakes” of the Congress regime. The previous government, headed by V. Narayanasamy, was accused of several misdeeds such as misuse of medical seats reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report has pointed out the misuse of funds by the Congress government, he alleged.

“In the next term of the NDA, we will put all efforts to make Puducherry a developed region by establishing industrial corridor and through the development of a Blue Economy. We have already laid the foundation. A private firm has established a unit in Puducherry capable of manufacturing 3 lakh laptops per year,” he said.

The Home Minister also promised to develop the Lingareddipalayam sugar mill under Public Private Partnership model. The 20-point agenda included in BJP’s manifesto would be implemented with the support of Central government, he added.