BENGALURU: Slamming the Union government for hiking the price of commercial LPG cylinders, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said this was done now after deliberately holding back such increases during the Assembly election period so as not to turn off voters.
He noted that in just a four-month period, commercial LPG cylinder price was increased six times, pushing the total burden on consumers up by Rs 1,518. “This is not governance - this is organised looting,’’ he said.
Taking to X, Siddaramaiah said as the Congress had warned earlier, as soon as the Assembly elections got over, the Centre started hiking prices again. “The price of commercial LPG cylinders was increased by Rs 993 on May 1, taking the cost to Rs 3,071.50 per cylinder,’’ he said.
The CM also pointed out that every time global conditions change, instead of protecting citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi simply passes the burden on to them. “His much-publicised but hollow foreign policy has failed to shield our economy, and now ordinary Indians are paying the price for it.
This hike will not just affect businesses, it will hit every household. Hotels, restaurants, small eateries and catering services will be forced to increase prices, making everyday food more expensive,” he said. The urban working class, daily wage earners and small business owners will suffer the most. From a cup of tea to a simple meal, everything will become costlier, he added.
“What a cruel irony - on Labour Day, this is Modi’s ‘gift’ to the working class: higher costs, shrinking incomes and more hardship. While workers ask for dignity and relief, this government gives them inflation and excuses. This is only the beginning; more such increases will follow and the burden will keep shifting to citizens. This is the Modi model - mislead people during elections, and burden them after,’’ he said.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar too flayed the Central government, saying it betrayed the poor through the price hike. “The Centre was waiting for the five state elections to conclude before taking this decision. It had pushed people earlier to use firewood.
They had gained publicity through the Ujjwala scheme, promising to reduce dependency on firewood stoves. Now, with an increase, how are people expected to survive? For this reason, we implemented the five guarantee schemes. In our state, around 1.5 crore families are benefiting from these schemes,” he added.
He said they will fight against the price hike. “None of the state BJP leaders are speaking on this now,’’ he said.