January 24, 2021: Taking a jibe at the Central government over rising fuel prices, former Congress President and party MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the government has been busy collecting tax despite the prevailing high inflation.

"Modi ji has achieved tremendous growth in 'GDP' i.e. gas-diesel-petrol prices! The public is plagued by inflation, the Modi government is busy in tax collection," tweeted Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has counted the lower production in oil-producing nations due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason behind the soaring fuel prices.

"We have to import 80 per cent of crude oil of our requirement. Due to coronavirus, many oil-producing countries stopped production or reduced it. There is a pressure on fuel price due to imbalance in demand and supply," said Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan last week.