This blog is NOT about the partisan politics of petroleum products.
This blog is about asking Indians to think about petroleum products.
The massive growth of the automobile industry as a whole and 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers as a whole have been extraordinary by any standards. The biggest and most expensive cars and bikes can be found on Indian roads.
This is obviously because the population has grown in economic strength, and has rising “aspirations”. This trend has accelerated in the last 4 years showing that Modi’s policies are paying off.
BUT. When it comes to the curious case of petroleum products – Petrol, Diesel & LPG in particular – there’s a hue and cry to reduce prices by reducing taxes. The same taxes that were used to uplift the poor and make the armed forces stronger.
Some, including me, have thought that this was Modi playing Robin Hood. Robbing the middle and rich classes to pay to the poor. Yes, the parallels to the famous Robin Hood stories is striking, in modern terms: Taxes.
Let’s think about a few points:
When crude prices were down, both Govt of India and State Governments increased taxes to fund social schemes such as Farm Loan Waivers, Housing, Toilets, Roads, LPG Cylinders etc etc.
They played Robinhood. Robbing the middle class and rich to uplift the poor.
It is not that this strategy worked for the robbed either! As the rural economy picked up, after an idiotic demonitisation exercise that demolished the poor’s livelihood, the economy started looking up – and is at 8.2% GDP growth as I write this. This pickup in GDP benefits the rich & Middle Class first before it trickles down to the poor.
The point is, the price of petroleum products is not a simple economic one of taxes being too high, but one of Robinhood ideology.
It political, as in order to be re-elected, any Government must appeal to the larger masses – which, without any doubt – is the poor. In the bargain, it must choose to ignore or even jettison it’s earlier (losing) voter base: the (smaller in size) middle class. That’s what the BJP has done by leaving petrol prices at all-time highs.
In fact, even the Congress has realised this, and woos Hindus with symbolic temple runs just before every election, though no Hindu buys it! And the Muslims know that too!!!
So, the curious case of petroleum product prices is not really curious. It’s simply politics.
The choice is therefore equally clear: Compare the 60+ years of ConGress rule to the 48 months of the BJP rule. Leave the minutè alone and look ahead: What kind of Government do you want?
A government of action some of which you may not like, but know it’s all for the good of the country as a whole.
OR
60+ more years of corruption, policy freeze, communalism and enrichment of one large congress family.
The media will never tell you this. It doesn’t suit their paymasters.
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I’m on Twitter @jsvasan