The hike in fuel prices has heated up politics in the state and provided much-needed ammunition to opposition parties to corner the Centre-led Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The petrol and diesel price hike in Punjab witnessed a strong reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Leaders also accused the BJP of withholding the inevitable hike due to the elections.
State Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “The Central Government has increased petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre and then gives a marginal MSP increase of just Rs 72 per quintal on paddy. This is a direct assault on farmers’ incomes. By giving a token MSP hike and raising diesel prices the very next day, the BJP Government has effectively robbed farmers of their rightful compensation. BJP’s anti-farmer and anti-people face is now visible to everyone.”
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, in a post on X, alleged that the Modi government first lectures citizens to use less cars, then runs public relations campaigns showing smaller prime ministerial convoys, and has now quietly increased petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre.
Warring questioned if this was the real script behind the drama, noting that farmers, truck operators, and middle-class families would pay more as every essential item becomes expensive again.
He claimed the truth is simple that the BJP does not reduce inflation, but merely manages headlines, adding, “Abki Baar, Petrol Rs 100 Paar.”
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the Rs 3 per litre increase in petrol and diesel prices, along with a Rs 2 hike in CNG prices, would deliver a crippling blow to the common man who is already battling inflation and rising living costs.
He said farmers would bear the brunt of this hike and would find no solace in the “meagre” Rs 72 per quintal increase in MSP. Trade and industry would also suffer immensely, he added.
Badal appealed to the Government of India to take urgent steps to control inflation and announce measures that enhance the income of farmers, traders, industrialists, and the common man.
The fuel price hike also triggered panic buying, with long queues seen outside fuel stations as residents rushed to fill their tanks.
Fuel station association members said they had no information about any immediate further hike, though they did not rule out future increases in view of recent statements by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Badish Jindal, industrialist and president of the MSME Industries Association, said that the hike in fuel prices would have a trickle-down effect on the prices of essential commodities, travel, vegetables, and dining.
“Everything will become expensive, but salaries will remain unchanged,” he said.
Jindal said Punjab’s industrial sector would be adversely affected because the state is remotely located and road transport for goods movement would become more expensive.
He also stated that the present crisis is a reflection of poor planning and phenomenal gains made by fuel companies in both the private and government sectors when the crude oil prices were low.
According to Jindal, electric vehicles and solar equipment should have made completely tax-free to end the reliance on crude oil imports.
Standing in a queue at a fuel station, resident Gautam Jain said he feared the next fuel price hike could be even higher than expected.
