Congress on Tuesday targeted the Centre over the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel and the rise in LPG cylinder prices, demanding the government call a special session of Parliament to discuss inflation and issue a ‘white paper’ on the matter.

Its women’s wing chief Alka Lamba urged the government to immediately reduce the prices of LPG, petrol and diesel, bring a strict policy to tame the prices of essential commodities and announce a special relief package for women and the poor.

“The government has turned its back on inflation. Their only goal is to fill the coffers of the government and private companies. The common person of the country is bearing the brunt of this inflation,” she said at a press conference here.

Lamba also compared the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) dispensation and the Narendra Modi government.

“In 2014, the price of petrol was Rs 72 per litre. But today, it is Rs 98 to Rs 100 per litre. In the Congress government, diesel was Rs 55 per litre, while under the BJP government, it has become Rs 88 per litre,” she said. “In the Congress government, the excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.20 per litre, today it has increased to Rs 19.90. In 2014, the excise duty on diesel was Rs 3.46, today it has increased to Rs 15.80. Under the Congress government, the price of crude oil was USD 108 per barrel, but today it is USD 65.31 per barrel,” she said.

Lamba said that the Congress was agitating against inflation across the country with women joining the “movement”. She alleged that some companies were making profits by looting the public. “Our demand is that a CAG audit should be done in this matter. If this does not happen, it will be clear that BJP is involved in this whole matter,” she said.

“The prices of LPG, petrol and diesel should be reduced immediately. A strict policy should be brought to control the prices of essential commodities, a special relief package should be announced for women and poor families and a special session should be called in Parliament to discuss inflation in which a white paper should be issued,” Lamba said.  The government recently hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each.

The excise duty on petrol was hiked to Rs 13 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 10 a litre. The domestic cooking gas LPG price has also been hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder across India and CNG by Rs 1 per kg.