BENGALURU: Lashing out at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for price rise due to the LPG crisis, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said that its ‘Ujjwala’ scheme has now become a “firewood stove” scheme.
He told media persons here, “What happened to BJP’s acche din slogan? Should we now call it kaccha din? Assembly elections will soon be held in five states. Hotels are shutting down and people are being forced to use electric stoves. Electricity consumption in the state has increased 10%. The Union government has given people the option of using firewood, but where will that come from?”
People may even face a shortage of firewood in the coming days. Even in villages, people are using LPG and have stopped fetching firewood. Black market is active and domestic gas prices have gone up to Rs 2,000 and commercial gas to Rs 4,000 a cylinder, he said.
He alleged that prices of essential commodities have gone up because of the wrong decisions and policies of the Union government. The state government faced criticism when it was forced to increase prices of certain essentials. “The Centre is now waging a price war against the common man,” he said.
‘Govt will procure bitumen’
Shivakumar said the state government will procure bitumen and supply it to contractors as its prices have gone up by Rs 6,600 per tonne. He claimed that this decision was taken at a meeting he had with officials and contractors. Tenders had been invited for building roads based on old prices of building materials, he said.
In a veiled attack on businessman Adani, he alleged that there is a mafia behind the rising cement prices. “Cement prices have been increased by Rs 50 to Rs 100 a bag. There is a big mafia behind this. Everyone knows who is controlling it. Steel prices have also gone up from Rs 47,000 to Rs 59,000 per tonne. How can ordinary people build homes? This has also affected construction work of the government,” he said.