E-Paper
J’khand: INDIA bloc MLAs protest ‘LPG crisis’, NDA members hit back
JMM, Congress, and RJD legislators protested outside the Jharkhand Assembly over LPG cylinder shortages, accusing the Central government of rising prices.
Legislators from the ruling coalition of the JMM, Congress and RJD held a demonstration outside the Jharkhand Assembly on Friday to protest the LPG cylinder ‘crisis’. They also raised the issue inside the House, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Congress of ‘creating panic’ as there was no shortage of domestic cylinders in the country.
Holding banners and posters, the MLAs raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government for the alleged shortage of cooking gas in the wake of the West Asia conflict. In a symbolic protest, state health minister Irfan Ansari entered the Assembly premises riding a cycle rickshaw with agriculture minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey sitting in the passenger seat.
“Narendra Modi is missing from Parliament; cylinders are missing from the country,” read some of the posters displayed by the legislators during the protest.
A placard also featured images of US President Donald Trump and Modi.
Congress MLA and state’s rural development minister Deepika Pandey Singh alleged that prices of gas cylinders were continuously rising due to the Centre’s policies.
“It is difficult to even book LPG cylinders now. All this is due to failure of the policies of the Central government, which is exacerbating the hardships faced by the common people,” Singh asserted.
JMM MLA Mangal Kalindi said the “burden of inflation” was directly impacting poor and middle-class families.
“People are being forced to stand in long queues for hours just to procure a gas cylinder, and even after this, they are often unable to obtain one. Many people are rushing to buy induction ovens to cope with the crisis, which is further affecting their family budget,” Kalindi claimed.
“There is a crisis situation across the country due to shortage of LPG cylinders and rising prices of petroleum products. Even the state’s agriculture minister came to the Assembly on a rickshaw,” health minister Ansari told reporters outside the Assembly.
Reacting to the protest BJP MLA and former minister Neera Yadav termed it ‘theatrics’. “They have forgotten their own electoral promise of providing an LPG cylinder at ₹400. Now they are staging this theatrics to divert attention from their failure. There is no shortage of fuel in the country,” she added.
The ruling party members took their protest inside the House soon after it convened, holding placards against the PM and the Central government, disrupting the Question Hour for around 10 minutes.
Demanding a special discussion on the issue, Congress legislature party leader Pradeep Yadav said, “It’s due to the failure of the foreign policy of this government that we are witnessing such a crisis. The PM surrendered the country’s interests to the American president. We should hold a special discussion on the issue to send a message to the Centre.”
Interjecting the ruling party members, leader of the opposition Babulal Marandi accused the Congress of ‘creating panic’ in the country. “There is no crisis of LPG or petrol diesel in the country. The Congress party has a history of creating fake crisis. In Parliament, their leader runs away from speaking on this subject and here they want a special discussion.”
Adding voice to the BJP leader, JD(U) legislator Saryu Roy said the ruling party was resorting to double standards. “On one hand the district administration of their government says there is no crisis. They issued helpline numbers to check any kind of hoarding. And here they are, holding a protest alleging a crisis,” Roy added.
