India's Economic Condition Worse Than That Of Sri Lanka: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

Petrol and diesel prices were on Monday hiked by 40 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last two weeks to Rs 8.40 per litre.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (PTI)

New Delhi: Hitting out at the Centre over soaring fuel prices, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said India's financial condition was worse than that of neighbouring Sri Lanka.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Mamata Banerjee said, "Sri Lanka's economic condition is bad but India's condition is worse than Sri Lanka's. Fuel prices have been hiked here."

Petrol and diesel prices were on Monday hiked by 40 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last two weeks to Rs 8.40 per litre. This is the 12th hike in oil prices since March 22.

On Monday, petrol price in Kolkata stood at Rs 113.45 per litre, and diesel price at Rs 98.22 per litre.

Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst economic crisis, with citizens facing long hours of power outages and scarcity of essentials. This has triggered widespread protests, prompting the government to declare an emergency and impose curfew.

On Sunday, all 26 Cabinet Ministers submitted their resignation due to the unrest in the island nation.

Mamata Banerjee said the Centre should call all political parties to discuss the economic crisis in the country rather than using CBI and ED.

The TMC supremo also alleged that the Centre allowed steep price hikes of petrol and diesel to divert attention from the atrocities carried out by the saffron party in non-BJP states.

"The Centre has no plans to deal with the fuel price hike. The BJP is responsible for this crisis; it's their return gift to the country after winning the Uttar Pradesh elections," she told reporters.

"Instead of using agencies like the CBI and ED against opposition parties, the Centre must convene an all-party meeting to resolve the ongoing economic problems," the chief minister said.