As Narendra Modi accepted Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli’s fitness challenge on Twitter on Thursday, his arch-rival Rahul Gandhi threw another challenge for the Prime Minister. Congress President Rahul Gandhi presented him with the “Reduce Fuel prices or the Congress will do a nationwide agitation and force you to do so” challenge.
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been blaming “the unilateral OPEC decision to cut production, fall in Venezuela’s output due to political instability and the prospect of US sanctions against Iran” for runaway pump prices.
The Congress president has challenged Modi to reduce the fuel price with a warning that his party would launch a nationwide agitation if he fails to do so.
Dear PM,
Glad to see you accept the @imVkohli fitness challenge. Here’s one from me:
Reduce Fuel prices or the Congress will do a nationwide agitation and force you to do so.
I look forward to your response.#FuelChallenge
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 24, 2018
As for fuel prices, benchmark crude prices are up to as much as $80/barrel, and the impact has been amplified by a falling rupee. India is particularly at risk from stronger global prices for crude oil as it is the third-highest importer of the commodity buying about 80 percent of its oil needs.
The ice bucket-like challenge began on May 22 when Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore posted a video of him doing push-ups in his office. Tagging Virat Kohli, Hrithik Roshan and Saina Nehwal, Rathore challenged them to join the campaign. Kohli responded to it yesterday by posting a video of his gym training and tagged his actor wife Anushka Sharma, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Prime Minister Modi.
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