Both Houses of Parliament witnessed disruptions on Tuesday as Opposition members criticised the Union government against the hike in the prices of liquefied petroleum gas, petrol and diesel, India Today reported.
On Tuesday, LPG prices were increased by Rs 50 per cylinder. The LPG rate was last revised on October 6.
Petrol and diesel prices were also increased by 80 paise a litre each, the first hike since November.
On Wednesday, members of Parliament from the Opposition walked out of the Lok Sabha to protest against the hike in fuel prices.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned, first till 12 pm and then till 2 pm, due to protests by the Opposition.
Trinamool Congress members rushed to the well of the Rajya Sabha carrying placards, while MPs from the Congress, Left, Shiv Sena and Samajwadi Party stood up in their seats and shouted slogans, according to The Hindu.
The Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil, the TMC’s Dola Sen and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders V Sivadasan, Elamaram Kareem and John Brittas filed notices seeking a discussion on the price hike under rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha rules.
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, however, did not accept the notices. He said that the matter could be discussed during demands for grants to the ministries concerned.
Later, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said that the Union government was making thousands of crores worth of money by plundering the poor through fuel prices, ANI reported.
“Many say prices are rising due to Ukraine-Russia crisis, but as per petroleum ministry, we didn’t [even] buy 1% of crude oil from Russia,” he said while addressing reporters.
In a tweet, Kharge remarked that the only affordable things under the Modi government are communalism and hatred. “Congratulations to PM Modi ji for achieving his ‘target’ of Rs 1,000 per LPG cylinder in most parts of the country,” he said. “There will now be daily ‘vikas’ [development] in petrol and diesel prices as well.”
The Congress’ leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said that the party had been proven right in its prediction that fuel prices would increase after the results of the Assembly elections.
“Modi government is not at all reluctant to loot the poor,” he said. “We’ll stand against this for common people both outside and inside the Lok Sabha.”
India’s state-run oil companies have not raised fuel prices since November 4, a move evenobservers attributed to the Assembly elections in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Higher fuel prices could have led to protests and harmed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chances of winning the polls.
In a similar vein, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter that the “lockdown” on the prices of gas, diesel and petrol has now been lifted. “Now, the government will consistently engage in ‘vikas’ of prices,” he said. “If you ask the prime minister about the epidemic of inflation, he will tell you to bang thalis [utensils].”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted the government was “just waiting for the elections to be over”.
Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan also suggested that prices were not hiked due to elections, saying this was how the Bharatiya Janata Party government worked, ANI reported.
“Akhilesh Yadav has repeatedly said in his campaign that you people should be alert, the price is going to increase after the elections,’ Bachchan said. “Don’t know who brought them [the BJP] to power.”
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the price hike showed that government has failed to acknowledge the pain of the country’s citizens.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!