Thiruvananthapuram, March 27 BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday that the Centre has reduced the special excise duty on petrol and diesel to help consumers and urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to cut state taxes on the fuels.
The BJP state chief also rejected the accusations made by the Congress and CPI(M) against each other of having a deal with the saffron party, saying that "there is no such understanding".
He claimed that this is a narrative being created to divert attention from the BJP-led NDA's election campaign based on development.
Chandrasekhar, speaking to reporters here, said that the Union government has reduced the special additional excise duty (SAED) from ₹13 to ₹3 to protect consumers from the impact of rising global crude prices.
He urged Vijayan to cut the state's taxes on petrol and diesel so that the benefit of the excise duty reduction can reach consumers in the state.
Meanwhile, the BJP leader, who is contesting in the April 9 Assembly elections from the Nemom seat, also claimed that his competitor in the constituency – state Education Minister V Sivankutty – is scared of losing and, therefore, resorting to various tactics to win.
"One of these tactics is fielding a CPI(M) branch secretary named Rajeev as an independent candidate from this seat."
"The other is appointing employees of the Labour Department as officials to assist the Election Commission's Returning Officers," Chandrasekhar claimed.
"This shows their fear of defeat," he added.
The BJP state chief further said that he always thought that the Congress was the "most shameless party", but Sivankutty is now "giving them competition".
He claimed that as the CPI(M) has nothing to show for its 10-year rule, it is creating controversies, spreading lies, fielding namesakes, and appointing Labour Department employees as EC officials – all to win in the Assembly polls.
The Labour Department portfolio is also held by Sivankutty.
Regarding the allegations made by the Congress and CPI(M) against each other of having a "deal with BJP", Chandrasekhar said that this is a narrative being created to divert attention from the NDA's election campaign based on development.
He said that both the Congress and CPI(M) are in an alliance outside Kerala.
"There is no understanding, there is no deal. What has happened here is decades of misgovernance, injustice, and negligence by the CPI(M) and the Congress," he claimed.