West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed the BJP-led central government over the sharp hike in cooking gas prices, alleging that its idea of 'Vikas' is to extract every last penny from the common people.
The domestic cooking gas LPG price on Monday was hiked by a steep Rs 50 per cylinder across India and CNG by Re 1 per kg, while the government raised taxes on petrol and diesel to shore up its revenues.
"The idea of 'Vikas' for BJP government at the Centre seems to be squeezing every last penny from the pockets of ordinary Indians. From essential medicines to petrol, diesel, and cooking gas, every necessity is slowly becoming a luxury," Banerjee posted on X.
"While families struggle with shrinking savings and mounting debt, this regime continues its assault on household budgets. BJP isn't running a government at the Centre, it's taking money from people's pockets," she added.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the increase in cooking gas price will be for the Ujjawala - poor beneficiaries who got LPG connection free of cost - and general users, and will be effective from April 8 and has been necessitated due to the rise in input cost.