Rising fuel prices: Modi govt lacked foresight, kept things ‘hidden’ before elections, says Kharge

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday (May 18, 2026) accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “hiding” the state of the economy ahead of the assembly elections as it would hurt the BJP’s electoral prospects.

Mr. Kharge alleged that the government lacked foresight and concealed the impact of rising prices until after the elections, after which fuel and commodity prices began to rise.

His remarks came a day after the government hiked compressed natural gas (CNG) prices for the second time in a week. The hike followed Friday’s (May 15, 2026) hike in petrol and diesel prices by ₹ 3 per litre, attributed to rising global oil prices amid the US-Israeli war against Iran.

In a post on X in Hindi, Mr Kharge said the Center had deliberately delayed price revisions to avoid an electoral backlash. “If Prime Minister Narendra Modi hikes the prices of petrol, diesel and other commodities before the elections, he would suffer significant losses,” he said.

“The Modi government hid everything from the country until the elections, but once the elections were over, the prices of everything went up,” the Congress president said.

Accusing the government of failing to foresee the inflationary impact, Mr. Kharge said, “The BJP and Modi government lacks foresight, that’s why they didn’t foresee this price hike coming.”

The Congress leader said his party would continue to highlight the issue of inflation, saying the price escalation has made essential goods increasingly unaffordable for the common man.

“We are raising this issue because inflation keeps rising because of the BJP government. The poor of the country are not even able to get the basic goods they deserve,” he said.

Published – 18 May 2026 15:11 IST