MADURAI
Cadre of the Congress party and Mahila Congress staged a protest here on Tuesday against the rising price of domestic LPG cylinder, blaming it on “the complete failure of the Union government in curbing the rise in prices of essential commodities”.
The protesters were carrying an empty LPG cylinder and firewood to show how the upward price revision had forced the poor to opt for firewood, instead of gas, for cooking. They also raised slogans against the Centre.
Madurai district president of the party V. Karthikeyan said that the price of LPG cylinder had doubled from what it was when the Congress was in power at the Centre. “Under the Congress regime, an LPG cylinder was sold for around ₹400. But, today the price has shot up to over ₹800 under the BJP government. The LPG subsidy provided by the government is just an eyewash to deceive the people,” he charged.
“On the one hand, there is an unprecedented crisis of unemployment and inflation in the country, and on the other, the increase in the price of LPG cylinder has totally affected the people. This government works only to favour big corporates and they are not working for the interests of the poor,” he said.
Mahila Congress Madurai city president R. Shanavash said that the poor were the worst-affected due to the increase in the price of LPG cylinder. “This has forced many poor women to opt for firewood for cooking,” she said.
The protesters also alleged that the reservations at various government institutions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were not being followed under the BJP rules.