The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the Narendra Modi government on the latest ₹ 25 hike in LPG cylinder prices and accused the government of being ‘insensitive’ and distorting household budgets even during a pandemic.
Separately, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged on Twitter that the government’s “collection scheme” is flourishing with regular monthly increase of LPG prices. She said, “On July 1, Modi ji’s government increased the price of LPG by ₹ 25 and on August 17 again increased it by ₹ 25. By showing the dream of Ujjwala, the 'collection scheme' of the BJP government is flourishing by increasing the prices of LPG every month”.
In a Facebook post, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi modified an earlier slogan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on corruption Na Khaunga Na Khane Doonga [Will neither eat nor let anyone eat]. “The truth of empty rhetoric is now before the people. Development has moved in reverse direction in the oast 7 years,” he wrote.
At a regular briefing, the party put up empty LPG cylinders and chulhas [portable stove] to highlight the issue.
Addressing a press conference along with Alka Lamba, Ritki Khera and Delhi Congress chief Amrita Dhawan, party’s national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked the government to bring down the prices of LPG cylinders to provide relief to the common man.
‘Bring some respite to people’
“Our one and only demand is please bring some respite to people, think about the plight of people and bring down the prices of LPG cylinders. This is anti-women and anti-people and due to high prices, people are forced to go back to using cow dung and firewood,” Ms. Shrinate told reporters.
With the latest hike, the price of a LPG cylinder in Delhi is ₹ 860 while it is touching almost ₹1000 in other parts of the country.
Ms. Shrinate said, “We do hope that an insensitive government intoxicated on power will pay some attention and bring some respite to people. This is absolutely immoral and there is no word to describe this….As per Saudi Aramco that determines our gas prices and going by the current exchange rate, the price of a cylinder should be ₹ 600. Why are we paying ₹260 more?”.
Ms. Shrinate pointed out that prices of LPG cylinders had gone up by ₹ 265 or almost 44 per cent in the last nine months alone and there was now hardly any subsidy that was being paid on the cylinders.
The government may publicise the Ujjwala Yojna by launching a new edition of the flagship scheme but hardly any of the beneficiaries could afford a cylinder at ₹ 800 at a time when most people have lost their jobs and suffered a loss of income due to the pandemic, she noted.
Ms Lamba claimed that women in her constituency, Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi, were forced to use ‘chulhas’ and one could only imagine what would happen in other parts of the country.
She said it would have been be better if 11 women Ministers met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and told him to bring down the LPG prices instead of trying to divert peoples attention.
