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"The Centre owes us a total of 97,000 crore. We will grant a 3,000 crore fuel and diesel subsidy the day we receive half of the money. Subsidies are fine with me, but how will I run my government?" Ms. Banerjee explained.

She said that the Chief Ministers had no opportunity to speak at the meeting and hence could not challenge the Prime Minister.

She also chastised PM Modi for praising BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat for providing 5,000 crore and 3,000 crore in fuel and diesel subsidies, respectively. She said that these states receive generous financial aid from the federal government, while her state receives relatively little.

In response to the outraged reaction of opposition Chief Ministers, Union Minister Hardeep Puri sneered that if opposition states dropped fuel taxes instead of liquor taxes, gasoline would be cheaper.

"If opposition-controlled states slash fuel taxes instead of imported booze, gasoline will be cheaper! The Maharashtra government charges 32.15 per litre for gasoline, whereas the Congress-controlled Rajasthan government charges 29.10. However, Uttarakhand, which is governed by the BJP, taxes only 14.51 percent and Uttar Pradesh, 16.50 percent. Facts cannot be challenged by protests!" - This morning, Mr Puri tweeted.

The jab came as Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao said the Prime Minister "should feel ashamed" for asking states to slash taxes, noting that his state had not raised fuel rates since 2015.

"The Centre owes us a total of 97,000 crore. We will grant a 3,000 crore fuel and diesel subsidy the day we receive half of the money. Subsidies are fine with me, but how will I run my government?" Ms. Banerjee explained.

She said that the Chief Ministers had no opportunity to speak at the meeting and hence could not challenge the Prime Minister.She also chastised PM Modi for praising BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat for providing 5,000 crore and 3,000 crore in fuel and diesel subsidies, respectively. She said that these states receive generous financial aid from the federal government, while her state receives relatively little.

"Today, the Centre pays 24.38 rupees for a gallon of diesel in Mumbai, while the state pays 22.37 rupees. The national tax is 31.58 paise and the state tax is 32.55 paise in the price of petrol. As a result, it is not true that the state has increased the price of gasoline and diesel," he remarked.

According to Mr Thackeray, Maharashtra has the highest GST (Goods and Services Tax) rate in the country, at 15%. Maharashtra is the country's number one state when direct taxes and GST are combined," he said.