New Delhi: Union minister Smriti Irani on Sunday, April 10 dodged a question about the rise in fuel prices while deboarding IndiGo’s Delhi to Guwahati flight. The question was asked by All India Mahila Congress acting president Netta D’Souza.D’Souza shared a video of the incident on Twitter, where she is heard asking Irani about the shortage of cooking gas and “stoves without gas”, to which the minister is heard saying “don’t lie”.Irani is heard asking D’Souza to not block the way so that people behind her can de-board.Faced Modi Minister @smritiirani ji, enroute to Guwahati.When asked about Unbearable Rising Prices of LPG, she blamed Vaccines, Raashan & even the poor!Do watch the video excerpts, on how she reacted to common people’s misery ! đ pic.twitter.com/NbkW2LgxOLâ Netta D’Souza (@dnetta) April 10, 2022Later, while walking on the aerobridge towards the terminal, Irani, instead of answering the question about the rising fuel prices, is heard telling the Congress leader that 80 crore people in India are getting free food grains for the last 27 months.Later, she is heard saying that she is being “accosted”, to which D’Souza says “no one is being accosted”.The Congress leader then tells Irani that she is a minister to which the latter replies, ”I am answering ma’am”, and goes on to speak about free COVID-19 vaccination.Speaking to Hindustan Times, DâSouza said, âIt was very disappointing to hear that just because they (government) administered vaccines and distributed ration cards, it justifies the gas prices doubling or fuel price risingâŚ.. There is no logical reasoning to this.â She added that even though the government dubbed the COVID-19 vaccines as free, âthe common man still had to pay for themâ.DâSouza added that in 2014, before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, the rate of gas was increased from Rs 415 to Rs 435 and Irani protested against the hike. âAs a citizen of the country, itâs my duty to bring it to the notice of the minister who must have forgotten what she did (protest) earlier⌠Was that just a gimmick to get into power?â DâSouza asked.Also read: How the Crude Oil Price Spike Will Upend Indiaâs Fiscal Balancing ActShifting narrativeBetween 2010 and 2014, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power, Irani had repeatedly raised the high cost of petrol and LPG cylinders. The UPA was in government from 2004 to 2014.Irani became the national secretary and the president of the BJP Mahila Morcha in 2010.In 2010, Irani along with her party workers, had protested against the fuel price hike in Mumbai. Back then, effigies of the UPA government were burnt in Thane in protest against the rise in fuel prices.In 2011, she took to Twitter, criticising the UPA government on the rise in fuel prices, and said, “Yet another hike in petrol prices. UPA seems 2 ignore public outcry over price rise. Arrogance of power, unsympathetic 2 d needs of d poor.”Yet another hike in petrol prices. UPA seems 2 ignore public outcry over price rise. Arrogance of power, unsympathetic 2 d needs of d poor.— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) January 15, 201150 rupee hike in LPG!!!!! N they call themselves Aam Aadmi ki Sarkar. What a shame!— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) June 24, 2011In an interview with ABP News in 2012, she had questioned the then Manmohan Singh-led government about its promise to reduce inflation. She had further asked why the government had been increasing the prices of petrol.Union minister Smriti Irani on fuel price hike before her party took over power in 2014.Also read: From âAvoidableâ to âNecessaryâ: How BJPâs Narrative on Fuel Price Hikes ChangedPrice riseAfter the assembly elections held in five states, the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG are being increased continuously. This has led to a cascading effect with a rise in the cost of living.Retail prices of petrol were increased by Rs 6.5 per litre in the last 10 days of March.Petrol prices in Delhi are at an all-time high of Rs 105.41 per litre, while in Mumbai they are at an all-time high of Rs 120.51 per litre. On April 10, Sunday, petrol in Kolkata was sold for Rs 115.12 per litre while diesel was available at Rs 99.83 per litre. In Chennai, a litre of petrol is retailing at Rs 110.89 and diesel at Rs 100.94 per litre.CNG prices in the national capital were hiked ten times in the last month. As of April 7, CNG in the National Capital Territory of Delhi costs Rs 69.11 per kg, up from Rs 66.61 per kg.As of April 1, 14.2-kg non-subsidised LPG cylinders were priced at Rs 949.50 in Delhi, Rs 976 in Kolkata, Rs 949.50 in Mumbai, and Rs 965.50 in Chennai. On April 1, the cost of a 19-kg commercial gas cylinder was hiked to Rs 2,253 in Delhi. In the past two months, the price of a 19-kg LPG cylinder price was hiked by Rs 346 per cylinder.Meanwhile, the LPG price in India is the costliest in the world, the Times of India reported.M.K. Venu, a founding editor of The Wire, told DW that India imports 85% of its crude oil requirements, and the main crude oil suppliers are Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the US. “Domestic fuel rates are directly linked to international oil prices, but they have not been revised until now,” he said.“Even if India continues to import crude from Russia at the existing rate, it will not make an impact. Even if it doubles or triples the amount, it won’t make much of a difference,” Venu said.“Further purchase of Russia crude oil will not have an impact on India’s import bill. For the gas prices to come under control, the government can think to reduce some taxes or come up with some specific plans as it is very important to reduce the fuel prices, or else inflation will gallop,” Ravi Datar, an energy consultant, told DW.However, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told the news outlet, “The rise of crude prices in the international market is the main reason. The government does not control fuel prices and therefore has no role in the increase.”It’s important to note that taxes form a significant part of the overall retail price of petrol and diesel, economic commentator Vivek Kaul wrote in July 2021, when fuel prices had hit an all-time high across the country.Kaul and Chintan Patel wrote, “Between 2014-15 and now [2021], taxes imposed by the central government on petrol and diesel have increased by 217% and 607%, respectively. The central government tax on diesel has gone up from Rs 4.50 per litre in 2014-15 to Rs 31.80 per litre currently. This is the real story.”For instance, as of April 1 in Delhi, for one litre of petrol around 63% of the tax was levied by the Union government while the rest was by the state.