New Delhi / Kolkata, April 29: Nilanjan Das, State General Secretary of the IT and Social Media Wing of the All India Trinamool Congress, posted what appeared to be official government documents on Wednesday claiming that the central government had hiked petrol prices by ₹10 per litre and diesel prices by ₹12.50 per litre, with immediate effect — right in the middle of voting day for the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026. The documents have since been confirmed to be fake.
The post, shared from the verified handle @NilanjanDasAITC and pinned to his profile, claimed the hike had been authorised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with a corresponding excise notification issued by the Ministry of Finance. The alleged order was dated April 29, 2026 — the same day West Bengal’s 142 constituencies went to polls. Das captioned the post calling the Modi government “shameless” and “anti-people” for announcing the hike while voting was still underway.
However, a straightforward check of current petrol and diesel retail prices across India confirms no such hike has taken place. Petrol prices in Mumbai continue to stand at Rs 103.54 per litre, while diesel remains at Rs 90.03 per litre — both unchanged from the previous day and consistent with the pricing trend maintained over the past several weeks. In Delhi, petrol is being sold at Rs 94.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.67 per litre, also unchanged. Across major Indian cities, fuel prices have shown no variation today, and no official communication from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas or the Ministry of Finance has announced any such revision.
The documents themselves contain several inconsistencies. The Ministry of Petroleum order claims that Oil Marketing Companies are incurring under-recoveries of Rs 24.40 per litre on petrol and Rs 104.99 per litre on diesel as of April 1, 2026 — figures that bear no relation to independently verifiable market data. The Finance Ministry notification, numbered 13/2026-Central Excise and signed by one Dheeraj Sharma, Under Secretary to the Government of India, purports to amend the Eighth Schedule to the Finance Act, 2002, to give effect to the excise component of the hike.
The timing of the post — on voting day, aimed at a state electorate heading to the polls — raises serious questions about intent. Spreading fabricated government orders to influence voter sentiment on polling day is a matter that falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the Election Commission of India’s model code enforcement machinery. The BJP is expected to file a complaint with the Election Commission over the incident.
Das, who describes himself as a social media influencer with over 41,000 followers on X, has not deleted or retracted the post as of the time of writing. The post had accumulated over 400 likes and 258 reposts before its authenticity was challenged.
West Bengal votes in its second and final phase across 142 constituencies today, with results scheduled for May 2.