New Delhi, May 22 (IANS): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday questioned the BJP on the constant rise in the prices of petroleum products.

"We want to know the reason behind this rise. The price of petroleum products is going down in the international market, why can't the BJP government at the Centre reduce the price for the people," AAP leader Dilip Pandey said during an interaction with the media here.

"They should also tell us who are they trying to benefit with this hike."

Pandey said when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in the opposition, its leaders would talk about such issues and call the government anti-poor.

"From May 2014 to now, the Central excise duty on petroleum products has increased nine times. Despite the fact that the prices of crude oil had gone down drastically.

"The duty on petrol has increased by 212 per cent and that on diesel by 450 per cent. This is impacting the overall cost of each and every product we use," he said.