Several BJP and NDA-ruled states on Thursday rushed to announce the slashing of value-added tax on petrol and diesel as a follow-up to the Narendra Modi government cutting excise duty, in what appeared a coordinated bid to politicise the issue and turn the tables on the Opposition.
Many saw in the back-to-back decisions an effort to mount pressure on Opposition-ruled states to follow suit and also tap into the reduction of fuel prices in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The Modi government on Wednesday cut excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 a litre and that on diesel by Rs 10 a litre, buckling under pressure from political opponents and consumers over the record rise in fuel prices.
Hours after the Centre’s announcement on Wednesday, the BJP governments of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Tripura, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur, and the NDA dispensation in Bihar announced reductions in VAT on fuel. Odisha was the only non-BJP state to cut VAT.
Although the Centre’s move to bring down excise duty appeared in part guided by the by-election setbacks in some states, the ruling dispensation sought to take the high ground.
Union home minister Amit Shah termed the decision “very sensitive” and said the “Diwali gift” from Prime Minister Modi would not only bring relief to the common man but also reduce inflation.
“Under the leadership of Modiji, BJP-ruled states too have done the commendable job of giving more relief to the common man by further reducing the prices of petrol and diesel,” Shah tweeted in Hindi.
The BJP’s information technology chief, Amit Malviya, tweeted: “After the Centre slashed excise on petrol and diesel, BJP- and NDA-ruled state governments have also reduced VAT across fuels. However Opposition-ruled Delhi, WB, Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab, TN among others haven’t. Don’t people living in these states deserve respite?”
In the recent by-elections, the BJP lost three Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency to the Congress in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. BJP-ruled Himachal is among the seven states due for polls in 2022.
In the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal, the vanquished BJP’s vote share declined by 20 per cent from the 2019 figure. In the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha seat that it lost to the Shiv Sena, the BJP’s vote share fell by 7 per cent.
BJP insiders said that most of the poll-bound states had been voicing concern at the constantly increasing fuel prices, fearing this would affect the electoral outcome. “The by-election results on top of this set off alarm bells,” a BJP leader said.
Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa are scheduled for polls early next year while Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are to vote towards the end of 2022.
Retaining heartland Uttar Pradesh is crucial to the BJP’s scheme of things. The BJP sources said chief minister Yogi Adityanath had been getting restless, keen to go ahead and cut VAT on fuel, when the Centre had seemed in no mood to reduce excise duty.
