“I agree with these members of the BJP as they protest the astronomical 150 Rs price hike in LPG cylinders,” Gandhi tweeted.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday took a dig at the BJP over the recent LPG price hike by sharing an old photograph of its party leaders, including Smriti Irani, who is now a Cabinet minister, protesting over increase in prices of cooking gas during the UPA rule.
“I agree with these members of the BJP as they protest the astronomical 150 Rs price hike in LPG cylinders,” Gandhi tweeted along with the picture of BJP leaders, including Smriti Irani.
I agree with these members of the BJP as they protest the astronomical 150 Rs price hike in LPG cylinders. #RollBackHike pic.twitter.com/YiwpjPdTNX
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 13, 2020
On Wednesday, the price of cooking gas LPG was hiked by a Rs 144.5 per cylinder due to spurt in benchmark global rates of the fuel. LPG price was increased to Rs 858.50 per 14.2 kg cylinder from Rs 714 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned oil firms. This is the steepest hike in rates since January 2014 when prices had gone up by Rs 220 per cylinder to Rs 1,241.
The Congress party has accused the government of “electrocuting” the Budget of the common man by raising the price of LPG cylinders.
“The Modi government has today electrocuted the budget of the common man. Modi government has today attacked the budget of India’s women. The Modi government with one stroke of the pen has increased the price of gas cylinder by Rs 144, taking the price of non-subsidised gas cylinder to Rs 858.50,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was quoted by PTI as saying on Wednesday.
LPG prices in India depend on key global factors such as international oil and gas prices and the rate of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.