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| Odisha Assembly |
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 12: BJD legislators today demanded a resolution by the Assembly seeking rollback of LPG price hike.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour today, BJD deputy chief whip Sanjay Dasburma said the Congress-led UPA had promised a budget for aam aadmi (common people) before coming to power. The people had voted it to power on this promise, but their hopes and aspirations were belied.
Alleging that the UPA government had failed to rein in the prices of essential commodities such as petroleum products and cooking gas, Dasburma said that in the past 10 years the LPG price hike had been effected on least 20 occasions. The price of a LPG cylinder was Rs 263.26 in 2003 and it is Rs 426.
This week, the prices were hiked by Rs 3.46. Because of its “anti-people” policy, the Congress has suffered drubbing in the recent Assembly elections in four states, he said, adding that the people would give a befitting reply in the 2014 general elections.
Stating that MPs of Andhra Pradesh had united on the Telangana issue, the BJD leader urged the members of Odisha Assembly to be united for public interest and pass a resolution demanding rollback of LPG price hike.
Supporting the demand, senior BJD leader and former finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei said it was a burning issue affecting the homemakers. “The nation awakes when the women folk rise is revolt,” he said.
Ghadei said: “Reason should dawn on the UPA government at least after its rout in the recent mini-general elections.”
Echoing Ghadei, former minister Prafulla Samal said the UPA government had been consistently raising the prices of essential commodities that hit the common man. On the other hand, it intends to bring the food security act, assuring supply of rice and wheat to the poor.
Congress legislator Anup Sai demanded waiver of tax from the cooking gas by the state government. “If the BJD is so much concerned for the consumers, it should withdraw the tax,” he said.
Sai criticised the BJD government for its failure to control the prices of potato.
