The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Sunday came down heavily on the Centre over the increase in the LPG cylinder rate, saying the BJP-led NDA government will end up shutting down the household kitchens across the country.
Slamming the central government's decision, the Left party urged the people to protest against the price hike. "By increasing the price of LPG cylinders regularly, the union government will end up shutting down kitchens across the country... The price hike amounts to challenging the people of the country who are trying to bounce back from the crisis induced by Covid-19 pandemic. The state secretariat of the CPI(M) urges people from all sections of the society to strongly protest against the price hike," the party said in a statement.
The CPI(M) accused the union government of cutting down on subsidies provided for common people and said it has 'written off' corporate tax worth over a lakh crores. "The union government which claims that there was no fund to subsidise the cooking gas, has written of Rs 1.45 lakh crore corporate tax last year alone. Their attitude is to help the corporates even at the cost of shutting down household kitchens," it said.
Recalling that one of the major election promises of the BJP in 2014 was to rein in the fuel prices, the ruling party alleged that it has failed to do so. The CPI(M) state secretariat noted that the price of the cooking gas was Rs 405 when the BJP came to power at the Centre and now it has gone beyond Rs 1,000.
"The subsidy for consumers has also been stopped for some time now. Recently, the price of commercial LPG cylinders was also increased. The petrol and diesel rates are also being hiked regularly. Similar is the situation with the price of Kerosene, which was Rs 18 in 2020 and has now increased to Rs 84," it added. Cooking gas LPG prices were on Saturday hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, the second increase in rates in just over six weeks following the firming of international energy rates.