With Karnataka assembly polls results out and the turbulent Parliament session having ended, the Petroleum Ministry which is led by veteran Congress leader from the state M Veerappa Moily, on Friday “allowed” oil marketing companies to hike diesel prices by one rupee a litre.
Resultantly the fuel in Delhi will now cost Rs 49.69 a litre compared to Rs 48.67 previously, according to a statement issued by the nation’s highest retailer Indian Oil Corp (IOC).
The timing of the hike in price of the ‘aam admi’ fuel, which was last hiked on March 22, just two days after the declaration of assembly polls results in the Petroleum Minister’s home state (and where the Congress party emerged as the winner), left a lot for the imagination.
The timing of the decision became all the more glaring as there was no hike in diesel prices as long as the Parliament session was on and incidentally even the Karnataka polls were on the anvil (the state went to polls on May 5 and the results came out on May 8).
Though in January this year the Government had empowered the oil marketing companies (OMCs) to raise diesel prices on a monthly basis in small doses till the time their subsidy burden gets wiped off, according to sources, the state-owned companies apparently had received a missive “from the top” on leaving the diesel prices untouched till the Parliament session as well as the Karnataka elections ended.