BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday hit out at the Union government over the increase in LPG cylinder prices and attributed it to India’s foreign policy. The CM said at a time when families are already battling relentless inflation, yet another burden is being placed on the kitchens of ordinary citizens by increasing the price of domestic cylinders by around Rs 60.
“This crisis is not accidental. It is the result of a foreign policy that mistakes submission for strategy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly surrendered India’s strategic autonomy by aligning blindly with the United States and disrupting India’s long-standing energy partnerships with nations such as Russia and Iran, partners that historically ensured energy stability for our people,” the CM stated.
Siddaramaiah said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had warned with remarkable clarity: “Foreign policy is the outcome of economic policy”. When diplomacy becomes spectacle rather than strategy, its consequences inevitably reach the kitchens of the poor and the middle class, the CM stated.
He said even former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s recent book raises serious concerns about the absence of institutional consultation and strategic depth in India’s foreign policy decisions, reinforcing the growing perception that the PM lacks a basic understanding of diplomacy and its economic consequences.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi must explain why his diplomatic misadventures are being paid for by the people of India. He owes the nation an apology, and he must resign,” the CM posted on X.
Meanwhile, the state Congress also slammed the Union government, accusing it of increasing the burden on people. “In just three months, commercial LPG prices have surged by Rs 307. At the same time, domestic cylinders have been hiked by Rs 60 and commercial cylinders by Rs 115.
While families struggle to cook a meal and small businesses bear rising costs, the BJP government keeps increasing the burden on the people,” the KPCC stated.