Misleading Claims About Petrol Prices in BJP States Shared on Social Media

Users have selectively put the names of BJP states where petrol prices are lower.

Fact-Check: This claim is misleading as four BJP states have higher petrol rates. 

(Source: The Quint) 

A social media post has claimed that Opposition-led states have higher petrol prices than states which have the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power.

What are the users saying?: Users wrote, that petrol prices in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat were ₹94,  ₹95 and ₹94, respectively.

• They compared these two non-BJP states with Telangana and West Bengal where prices are ₹107 and ₹104, respectively.

• Additionally, they wrote that the "opposition-ruled states sell petrol" at ₹12/litre which is higher than some BJP-ruled States."

Who shared it?: This post was shared by X user Rishi Bagree who has previously spread misinformation.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 415.7K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)

Is this true?: The claim is misleading as users have missed out on some BJP-ruled states where petrol prices are higher to compare with opposition states.   

• After examining the petrol prices across India, according to the data by Hindustan Petrol Corporation Limited (HPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) as of 15 March and 19 March, respectively, prices of four BJP-ruled states are as follows:

  • Madhya Pradesh: ₹106.43/per litre (HPCL), ₹106.47 (IOCL) / per litre and ₹106.45/per litre (BPCL).

  • Rajasthan: ₹104.86/per litre (HPCL), ₹104.88 (IOCL) / per litre and ₹104.86/per litre (BPCL)

  • Chhattisgarh: ₹100.37/per litre (HPCL), ₹100.39 (IOCL) / per litre and ₹100.37/per litre (BPCL)

  • Maharashtra: ₹104.19/per litre (HPCL), ₹104.21 (IOCL) / per litre and ₹104.20/per litre (BPCL)

• According to a post by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), petrol prices were lowered by two rupees across India.

How did we find out?: At first, we looked for the petrol prices across India on the websites of HPCL and IOCL.

• HPCL's website provided a map of India which indicated the petrol prices in major cities.

HPCL's website shows a map indicating petrol and diesel prices in major Indian cities. 

(Source: HPCL/Screenshot) 

• We checked the petrol prices across India and found that four BJP-ruled states had higher petrol prices, over ₹100/per litre and were omitted in the viral claim.

• These states are as follows - Madhya Pradesh: ₹106.43/per litre, Rajasthan: ₹104.86/per litre, Chhattisgarh: ₹100.37/per litre and Maharashtra: ₹104.19/per litre.

IOCL: To check IOCL prices, we messaged the Retail Selling Price (RSP) code to a number provided on the website to get details of the prices across India.

• Swipe right to see an example of the process.

This is an example of how we found out the petrol prices.

This is an example of how we found out the petrol prices. 

• Similar to HPCL, we found that four BJP-ruled states had higher petrol prices, over ₹100/per litre which went unmentioned in the viral claim.

• The BJP-ruled states with higher petrol prices are here - Madhya Pradesh: ₹106.47/per litre, Rajasthan: ₹104.88/per litre, Chhattisgarh: ₹100.39/per litre and Maharashtra: ₹104.21/per litre.

BPCL: We reached out to the public relations officer at the BPCL and found that the rates of four BJP-ruled states had higher petrol prices, over ₹100/per litre and went unmentioned in the viral claim.

• Here are the states: Madhya Pradesh at ₹106.45/per litre, Rajasthan at ₹104.86/per litre, Chhattisgarh at ₹100.37/per litre and Maharashtra at ₹104.20/per litre

Changes in Petrol Prices: On 14 March, the MoPNG posted on their X account about a change in petrol prices across the country from 15 March (day when the claim spread on social media).

• The petrol prices were slashed by ₹2/per litre.

• This was reported by the Economic Times and Live Mint on 15 March.

Conclusion: It is clear that the viral claim has left out names of those BJP-ruled states where petrol prices are higher to mislead readers.

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