'Only Congress governs for poor, middle class': Rahul Gandhi on LPG price hike

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a jibe at the central government after the hike in prices of domestic liquified petroleum gas (LPG) by ₹50 per cylinder, insisting that "Only Congress governs for the welfare of poor and middle-class Indian families. It's the core of our economic policy."

In his tweet, the Congress leader tried to make a 'then and now' comparison by showing how the former UPA government dealt with the issue better than the BJP government.

Gandhi shared the cost of cooking gas which was ₹410 in May 2014, which has increased by ₹585.50 till now and cost ₹999 in 2022. He further mentioned that the former Congress government provided ₹827 while now the government provides no subsidy. "2 cylinders then for the price of 1 now", he further added.

On Saturday, his party colleague Randeep Surjewala too slammed the central government and said "the cost of subsidised cooking gas has increased by 2.5 times and it has become out of reach to poor and middle-class households" and demanded to bring down the cost in line with the rate in 2014.

Cooking gas on Saturday became costlier by ₹50 per cylinder with the second rate hike in less than two months pushing the price for about 289 million households to over ₹1,000 per 14.2 kg refill in many places, mainly because of the rising international energy costs due to the Ukraine war.

According to the latest update published by dealers of state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), domestic liquified petroleum gas (LPG) on Saturday jumped to ₹999.50 per cylinder in Delhi. Prices vary across the country based on local levies and transportation costs. For instance, its cost in Gujarat's Navsari town is ₹1,008.50 per 14.2 kg cylinder, ₹1,026 in Ludhiana (Punjab), ₹1,015.50 in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and ₹1,098 in Patna (Bihar).

This is not the first time that cooking gas prices have skyrocketed. In January 2014 it was ₹1,241 per 14.2 kg cylinder in Delhi. Since then its rates remained volatile, but from May 1, 2020 when a cylinder's price was reduced by ₹170 to ₹581.5, cooking gas prices have only risen barring a minor ₹10 per cylinder price reduction in April 2021, reports say.