Hyderabad: Amidst the continuously rising prices of petrol, Baba Ramdev has justified the rise saying that the government has to impose taxes to run the country and has successfully held the economy of the country together.
In his recently deleted, nine-year-old tweet, Ramdev had claimed that petrol will be sold at Rs 30 a litre, if black money is brought back into the economy. Despite the efforts by the government, including demonetization, to curb corruption and eradicate black money, the petrol prices seem to sky-rocket, with prices crossing Rs 100 in almost all cities across the country.
In a reply to a journalist’s question on increasing black money in the country Ramdev said “While organizing protests to eradicate black money and corruption in the entire country, I had proposed provisions to avoid tax terrorism to improve the economy. I had said that if oil is sold according to the rate of crude oil with taxes reduced on it, then what I said would be possible. The government is holding together the economy and have to make decisions for the benefit of the public but also have to run the government simultaneously. They are unable to lift the tax because of it. The dream (of reduced fuel prices) will be fulfilled someday,” he said.
A number of right-wing supporters who criticized the former governments for the rise in petrol prices remain mum on their current and continuous rise. Ramdev is one among the few who have had to retract their comments criticizing the rise in petrol and diesel prices during the regime of Congress, alongside Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.