The LPG crunch seemed worlds away on the Maidan on Saturday, as the BJP held its largest rally in recent memory in Bengal.

Metro saw at least five spots where meals were being cooked using domestic LPG — a scarce commodity in the rest of the city. The aroma of spiced chicken wafted near Eden Gardens, where buses from multiple districts were parked and groups were unloading utensils and domestic cylinders.

Ashok Mondal, 38, came with a group of around 20 people from Ghatal in West Midnapore. He was supervising the preparation of about 13kg of chicken, alongside rice and dal.

“I stocked the cylinder specifically for the Brigade rally,” said Mondal. He said the LPG crisis was manufactured by Trinamool. “There is no crisis. I had two cylinders; I brought one. We want to celebrate this day. We want to celebrate Modiji.”

A man atop a gas cylinder used to cook on the Maidan on Saturday

Nearby, rallyists were carrying home giant Modi cut-outs used as props for the event. A man from Nadia said he would place the cut-outs beside deities at home.

Beyond Maidan

Outside the rally zone, however, many still struggled to book LPG refills, as oil and gas companies’ numbers remained largely unresponsive.

Queues at distribution centres were shorter, but not all neighbourhoods had relief. Delivery men still faced challenges: near Jadavpur 8B, a middle-aged woman offered a premium for a 14kg cylinder, but the delivery man refused.

At a Hindustan Petroleum LPG centre in Kankurgachhi around 3pm on Saturday, five people waited for bookings. Debashri Bhowmik, an employee of the distributor, said many could not book because they had ordered a cylinder less than 25 days ago — the Centre’s mandated gap between bookings.

At an Indane office on Beadon Street, several residents arrived even after the centre had closed, hoping for information about cylinders. Mohammad Ali, 48, from Central Avenue, said he had been trying to book a refill for nearly a week. “I have a double cylinder at home. One is empty, and the other will finish in two days,” he said.

A senior citizen from Behala also failed to book an HP domestic cylinder despite repeated attempts. “The number is invalid, or not in use, or does not exist,” he said. He cannot use an app to book a refill.

Some eateries that desperately needed fresh cylinders managed to get at least one on Friday.

A distributor in south Calcutta, serving over 30,000 domestic and 5,000 commercial customers, said: “We are supplying commercial cylinders but in much smaller volumes than usual. Pending domestic deliveries are all being completed.”

He received a fresh stock of about 200 commercial cylinders on Saturday.

An Indian Oil official said the panic had subsided. “We have also increased the bandwidth of our servers,” he said.