The common indian doesn’t need economics textbooks to understand the economy; a simple look at the petrol pump is enough. The poster above says it all: under manmohan Singh, crude oil once touched $135 a barrel, yet petrol cost ₹76. Today, under narendra Modi, crude oil floats around $65 – literally half the price – but the aam aadmi still coughs up ₹100+ per litre.
How does this magic trick work? Not with economics, but with taxes. The government milks petrol and diesel like cash cows, stuffing its treasury while the middle-class suffocates. Even after getting a 20% discount from russia and adding 20% ethanol – which itself is cheaper – prices at the pump are sky-high. Every paisa saved in crude is swallowed by excise, cess, and state taxes, while the government sells "Atmanirbhar Bharat" slogans with a straight face.
Manmohan Singh, an economist, understood that fuel prices directly affect inflation. Transport costs ripple through every onion, every tomato, every sack of rice. That’s why despite higher crude costs, the burden on citizens was balanced. Modi, however, mastered a different formula: keep crude cheap, keep taxes higher, keep propaganda at peak.
The common man today stands at the petrol pump like a beggar at a temple. Should he fill his bike tank or his stomach? Should he pay for milk or for diesel to deliver his goods? The answer doesn’t matter, because either way, he’s the loser. The rich glide in SUVs without blinking, the government feasts on excise duty, but the man who runs the kirana shop or drives an auto is crushed between promises and petrol bills.
Let’s be blunt: petrol at ₹100+ is not about global prices or Russian wars. It is about a regime that thrives on taxation, not relief. A regime that advertises cheap crude in speeches but sells expensive petrol in reality. It’s not just fuel that burns—it’s the lungs of every citizen suffocating in inflated air.
So the next time the pump machine clicks ₹500 for half a tank, remember: it’s not your bike that’s thirsty, it’s the government’s greed guzzling your hard-earned money.
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel