Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday hit out at the government on high fuel prices even when global crude oil rates had returned to the pre-West Asia war levels.

He accused the BJP of "looting" and "pickpocketing" the people, and alleged that the public has become just a means for the BJP to extract taxes and raise its collections.

Kharge asked why the public is being made to shell out more for petrol, diesel and LPG even when the global crude oil prices had plumetted to pre-war levels.

"BJP's Looting and pickpocketing habit - Crude oil is tumbling, yet instead of easing up on petrol-diesel-gas... The Modi government keeps tightening the reins on savings," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

Posing a set of three questions to the government, the Congress chief said, when the war in West Asia was at its peak, crude oil was at $138 per barrel.

Back then, petrol was ₹94.77 a litre and diesel ₹87.67 a litre, he said, adding that today, crude oil has fallen to $70.71 per barrel.

"So why is the Modi government still selling petrol at ₹102.12 a litre and diesel at ₹95.20 a litre?

"Citing the war, the BJP government doubled the prices of commercial LPG. Now that supply has normalised, why aren't LPG prices being rolled back? Why isn't the public getting even a penny's relief," he asked.

Domestic cylinders, the 5-kg small cylinders useful for migrants, and CNG - everything has been jacked up, he noted.

"Now that conditions are normal, why are the Modi government's hands trembling when it comes to cutting the prices," Kharge asked.

The Congress chief said when crude oil was expensive, the public suffered.

Now that crude oil is cheap, why is it still that the public is bearing the brunt, he asked.

"It's obvious - the public has become just a means for the BJP to extract taxes and raise its collections," the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha said.

The Congress has been accusing the NDA government of not reducing oil prices after they have come down globally. The opposition party has also accused the BJP of "looting" the public through higher taxes on petrol, diesel and LPG.

Published on June 27, 2026