NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said the Centre did not take timely steps to check the prices of petrol and diesel due to elections in five states.

He also said that the rates of fuel went up due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Petrol and diesel prices were on Tuesday hiked by 80 paise a litre each while domestic cooking gas LPG rates were increased by Rs 50 per cylinder as state oil firms ended an over four-and-half month hiatus in rate revision, fanning inflation fears. Queried about inflation and hike in fuel prices after polls, the former Union minister said the prices of petrol, diesel and oil went up mainly due to two reasons.