HYDERABAD: BRS working president and IT Minister KT Rama Rao called upon pink party activists to stage protests across the State against the latest hike in the prices of domestic LPG refills. In a teleconference with Ministers, MLCs, MLAs and BRS district presidents, Rama Rao said that it became a practice for the BJP-led Union government to hike the prices of domestic LPG refills once Assembly elections are completed in the States. He found fault with the Centre for increasing the costs of domestic LPG refill by Rs 50 and commercial refill by Rs 350 on Wednesday.
“The prices were hiked immediately after the voters exercised their franchise in some States,” the BRS working president pointed out.Rama Rao wondered whether the hike in domestic LPG refill was a gift to women on International Women’s Day. He called upon BRS leaders to take up novel protests across the State against the LPG price hike. “The protests should be organised in all Assembly segments, towns and mandals. The protests should also be organised on Women’s Day,” he said.
Rama Rao recalled that the price of domestic LPG cylinder refill was just Rs 400 before Narendra Modi took charge as Prime Minister. “Now, the LPG refill price has touched Rs 1,200 per cylinder,” he pointed out. “The people are facing a lot of problems with the abnormal hike in LPG prices as well as the ever increasing prices of essential commodities,” Rama Rao said.
Though the Centre launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme to provide LPG connections to BPL households, the poor cannot afford LPG refills, Rama Rao said. “All those women who got refills under PMUY were now depending on firewood for cooking,” he added.
The BRS working president demanded that the Union government roll back the prices of LPG refills.