BJD hits out at Centre over hike in LPG cylinder price

Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Thursday targeted the BJP- ruled Union government over rapid increase in the price of domestic LPG cylinder stating that the move has hit the poor and middle class hard. Addressing a news conference, BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said the Centre brought the Ujjwala scheme to provide subsidized gas cylinder and save women in kitchen from smoke, but the price rise has brought tears to their eyes.

"In March 2014, a domestic LPG cylinder was priced at Rs 410. Now the same costs Rs. 1,103. It is a three-fold rise in price of a single domestic cylinder in the past nine years," Patnaik said. BJD spokesperson Srimayee Mishra said while on one hand the Centre is increasing the price of LPG cylinder, on the other they have discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana depriving the poor of the extra five kilograms of rice.

"This is a double blow on the poor and middle class not only in Odisha but also in the entire country. I am surprised why the state BJP is turning a blind eye to such apathy. Why they are not raising this issue, which has impacted a large section of the society," Mishra said. The CPI (M-L) Liberation has also raised the issue of LPG price rise. In a press statement, the party said the BJP, which has ascended to power raising the inflation issue of the country, is itself indulging in the same practice.

"The price rise of LPG cylinder is going to have a huge impact on the poor and the middle class. At a time when the unemployment rate is increasing and per capita income is going down, such move of price rise will greatly affect the people of the country," the party said. The state BJP countered the opposition attack saying this is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from health minister Naba Das murder case.

State BJP spokesperson Lekh Ashree Samantasinghar said the Centre has proposed to include petrol, diesel and LPG under GST, but the BJD-led government is not allowing it. "If they allow GST on LPG, the price will be rationalized," Samantasing-har said.