New Delhi, Jun 24 (IANS): After nationwide protest by the Congress party on Wednesday over the issue of rising fuel prices, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra upped ante on the social media.

She tweeted: "During this crisis, the central government has created a history of hurting public financially. Diesel has now exceeded petrol's rate. While there is a huge decline in the price of crude oil worldwide."

Dubbing it as "robbery", Priyanka Gandhi alleged, "Look at the robbery. The government raises the rate every day so that the amounts that are collected by Rs 8 or Rs 9 does not seem as loot." She further asked, "Why is the public being harassed during the economic devastation caused by the epidemic?"

Diesel has become the most expensive auto-fuel in the country overtaking petrol for the first time as the oil marketing companies on Wednesday raised its pump prices by 48 paise per litre while keeping the price of petrol unchanged.

In the Capital, diesel is now priced at Rs 79.88 per litre while petrol prices remain at Tuesday level of Rs 79.76 a litre. This makes diesel the most expensive auto fuel in the basket for the first time in the Capital.

The Congress on Wednesday held protests across India, against the petrol-diesel price hike.