For nine-and-a-half years the Union govt sold ₹400 LPG cylinders for ₹1,100, destroying common people's lives, the Opposition said.
Opposition calls the LPG price cut an election gimmick. (iStock)
To lessen the impact of growing inflation on householders, the government reduced the cost of home cooking gas by ₹200 rupees per cylinder on Tuesday, 29 August.
Commenting on the decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, the festival of Raksha Bandhan is a day to enhance happiness in the family and the decision to cut prices will significantly help women.
“Every sister of mine should remain happy and healthy, that is my wish from God,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
रक्षाबंधन का पर्व अपने परिवार में खुशियां बढ़ाने का दिन होता है। गैस की कीमतों में कटौती होने से मेरे परिवार की बहनों की सहूलियत बढ़ेगी और उनका जीवन और आसान होगा। मेरी हर बहन खुश रहे, स्वस्थ रहे, सुखी रहे, ईश्वर से यही कामना है। https://t.co/RwM1a1GIKd
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 29, 2023
Reacting to the decision, Congress claimed the slash in LPG prices by the Union government was the result of the BJP’s rout in the Karnataka elections and two “highly successful” meetings of the Opposition INDIA alliance.
The party said people should expect more such “gifts” as Prime Minister Modi becomes “even more desperate to cling on to his chair”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said when the votes start decreasing, then the election gifts start getting distributed.
“The merciless Modi government, which looted the hard-earned money of the people, is now showing feigned goodwill towards the mothers and sisters,” he said in Hindi on X.
For nine-and-a-half years, by selling ₹400 LPG cylinders for ₹1,100, they kept destroying the lives of the common people, Kharge said, asking, why didn’t any “affectionate gift” come to mind in all that time.
“The Modi government should know that in 2024, the anger of the troubled people of the country cannot be reduced by a subsidy of ₹200. The fear of INDIA (alliance) is good, Modi ji,” he said.
“The public has made up its mind. The only option is to show the exit door to the BJP to beat inflation,” Kharge said.
जब वोट लगे घटने, तो चुनावी तोहफ़े लगे बटने !
जनता की गाढ़ी कमाई लूटने वाली, निर्दयी मोदी सरकार, अब माताओं-बहनों से दिखावटी सद्भावना जता रही है।
साढ़े 9 सालों तक ₹400 का #LPG सिलेंडर, ₹1100 में बेच कर, आम आदमी की ज़िंदगी तबाह करते रहे, तब कोई “स्नेह भेंट” की याद क्यों नहीं…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) August 29, 2023
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said three months before the five state elections, where the “BJP is staring at certain defeat”, and six months before the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is literally clutching at straws.
“A sudden slash in LPG prices by Mr Modi. Why now, you may ask? Yeh hai kissa ‘demokursi’ ka,” Ramesh said on X.
“With elections nearing, the Modi government has remembered giving gifts to mothers and sisters of the country six months before,” he said.
“Two highly successful INDIA (bloc) meetings in two months and the third coming up in two days,” he said referring to the Opposition alliance meeting in Mumbai beginning Thursday, 31 August.
“The Congress government in Karnataka has implemented its five guarantees in 100 days, and the Congress government in Rajasthan is giving LPG cylinders at ₹500,” Ramesh said, noting that the response has been phenomenal as people were hurting from BJP’s “misgovernance”.
A sudden slash in LPG prices by Mr. Modi. Why now, you may ask?
Yeh hai kissa demokursi ka ⬇️
🔸Karnataka rout of the BJP— the high price of LPG was one of the main issues of the election.
🔸Two highly successful INDIA meetings in two months and the third coming up in 2 days.…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 29, 2023
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Union government’s decision to slash LPG prices by ₹200 as an impact of the INDIA Opposition alliance.
“Till now, only TWO meetings have been held in the past TWO months by the INDIA alliance, and today, we see that LPG prices have gone down by ₹200. Yeh hai #INDIA ka dum!” Banerjee said in a post on X.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also dubbed the Union government’s move as a “poll gimmick” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Till now, only TWO meetings have been held in the past TWO months by the INDIA alliance and today, we see that LPG prices have gone down by Rs. 200.
ये है #INDIA का दम!
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 29, 2023
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government has raised LPG prices and looted 31.37 crore people in the last 9.5 years. It has looted over ₹8.33 lakh crore from people’s pockets, he alleged.
In the Ujjwala scheme alone, ₹68,702.76 crore profits were taken out of women’s pockets since 2017, according to official data, he claimed.
“In 2024, the people of the country will definitely ‘return’ you out of power and give a ‘return gift’ to the BJP,” he said.
Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said: “The BJP can do anything to win elections. Now, when the elections are coming, the Union government announced a cut of ₹200 per cylinder. The government increased ₹650 and then cut ₹200.”
“By doing this, the government is accepting that it is responsible for increasing inflation in the country,” the food and civil supplies minister said, adding that the Union government may further announce reduction in fuel prices in view of the upcoming elections.
“The government reduces prices before elections and then increases after elections are over,” he told reporters in Jaipur.
Senior BJD leader and Odisha Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said, people wanted the deduction to be more.
“When the price of crude oil goes down in the International market, is it not passed on to the consumers. They (Union government) were unable to see the tears of women then. They are now feeling the pain of the people only because the election is only four-five months away,” Behera told PTI.
Ruling BRS MLC in Telangana K Kavitha on Tuesday alleged that the ₹200 cut in prices of domestic cooking gas announced by the Union government is not any gift to the people but “gaslighting of people’s emotions and pockets”.
First Increase the LPG cylinder price by ₹800/-
And then decrease it by ₹200/-It’s not a gift, but absolute gaslighting of people’s emotions and pockets.#gascylinder
— Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) August 29, 2023
Meanwhile, Kavitha also alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is the only government to impose a tax on handlooms.
Speaking at “Padmashali aatmeeya sammelanam” organised at Nizamabad by MLA Ganesh Gupta, she said the BRS government in Telangana is taking care of all sections of society.
“So, the only government, only PM to impose a tax on handlooms is Modi ji,” said Kavitha, daughter of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
She said the BRS government, since it came to power in 2014, has ensured law and order in the state which is vital for businesses and other commercial establishments to run smoothly.
(With PTI inputs)
May 17, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
