West Bengal govt cuts cess on petrol and diesel by Rs 1 per litre, becomes third state to slash fuel prices in two days

The West Bengal government has cut the tax on both petrol and diesel by Rs 1 per litre, bringing respite to residents of the state from the rising the rising fuel prices. The Mamata Banerjee government on Tuesday announced that it will reduce the cess on fuel by a rupee each for petrol and diesel. This move, according to reports, carries a big political significance as Mamata looks to pull-up up a united federal front to fight the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. [caption id=“attachment_5089251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. PTI[/caption] Mamata also urged the Centre to reduce the cess on fuel prices and alleged that the central government hiked excise duty nine times, even when the global crude prices were falling. “Our government has never increased the sales tax or cess during all these years,” she said. TMC-led  West Bengal has become the third state to cut down fuel prices , previously, BJP ruled and election-bound Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh had also slashed fuel prices. Even Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday had said that his government was working on various proposals to give relief to the people from the rising fuel prices. The Congress party had held a Bharat Bandh on Monday to protest against the rise in fuel prices under the Modi-led central government. With inputs from PTI