Parliament session over, Congress back to basic issues of LPG hike, jobs, law and order

Realising the limitation of the Pegasus campaign in rural India where snooping may not turn into a major poll issue, Congress is back to basics ahead of assembly polls in six states.

Attempting to re-orient the political discourse around 'chulha chowki, jobs and law and order (Kanoon Ka Raj), AICC on Wednesday hit out at the Modi government over the hike in prices of LPG cylinders and accused it of being insensitive.

The issue of Pegasus had rocked the Monsoon session of Parliament but many in Congress are of the view that the issue does not resonate so well in rural India as it does in Lutyens and in metros of the country, and cannot be stretched too far.

While Rahul Gandhi posted a picture of LPG cylinder with a graph of hike in its prices between January and August this year, alleging there has been "reverse development" in last seven years, the party at a press briefing in AICC not only displayed empty LPG cylinders and 'chulhas' to highlight the issue but also released a video showing women in Chandni Chowk of Delhi buying chulhas.

Read | Now, give a missed call for a new LPG connection

Addressing a joint press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, former MLA Alka Lamba, former Delhi Mahila Congress chief Amrita Dhawan and AICC Media Coordinator Radhika Khera said called the latest hike by Rs 25 in LPG cylinders as "very steep price hike"

"The prices are at Rs. 860 in the city of Delhi, touching almost a thousand in various parts of the country and the question remains that why is the government not doing anything about it? Because if you actually go by Saudi Aramco, which decides our prices, our gas cylinder should cost us only Rs 600, why are we paying Rs. 260 more? And in the last 8 or 9 months alone prices have gone up by Rs. 265, which is almost 44% higher," the Congress alleged.

They called the decision "anti-women and "anti-people". "At what stage will the government realise that during an economic crisis, when people have lost jobs, when their wages have gone down, when people are looking for employment opportunities, you cannot distort their home budgets?," they said.

All those women, who cannot afford gas cylinder are forced today and majority of the reports point in the direction, how people are forced to go back to cow dung cakes or actually using firewood," they said as the AICC released a video clip of a woman buying a chulha.

They also slammed the government on the alleged "chest thumping" on Ujjawala scheme days after the Modi government announced Ujjawala 2:0 from a rural district in poll-bound UP.

On Tuesday, the Congress had raised the issue of a hike in prices of petroleum products.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a separate tweet hit out at the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, raising questions on the claim of the state government having given four lakh jobs to the youths and asked the government in which departments these jobs were given.

AICC communication chief Randeep Surjewala in a statement, alleged Modi government has pushed North East into chaos and break down of the Constitutional machinery.

"Uncertainty, conflict, violent clashes & unchecked lawlessness have marred a large part of India’s North East. The situation is beyond alarming. Multiple States of North East are being pushed into an unprecedented cycle of lawlessness with complete breakdown of law & order and Constitutional machinery. Shockingly and sadly, the Modi government and Home Minister Amit Shah remain oblivious to the goings on.

"This completely indifferent, criminally aloof hands-off-approach of BJP government also emanates from its illegal and often divisive usurpation of power in many North Eastern states and a blind lust to latch on to illegitimately formed governments, irrespective of consequences for the country," Surjewala said.