Mamata Banerjee calls for protest by TMC women's wing on Sunday over LPG price hike

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the women's wing of the ruling Trinamool Congress will stage protests on the streets over a hike in LPG prices.

The prices of domestic LPG and commercial cylinders were hiked by a steep Rs 60 and Rs 114.5, respectively, amid rising energy costs linked to the West Asia conflict.

Banerjee, while addressing party workers on the second day of her sit-in against the deletion of names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, said the Centre is arbitrarily hiking LPG prices without making alternative arrangements, in an "anti-people manner".

"Tomorrow is International Women's Day. I urge Chandrima (state minister and TMC's women wing state president Chandrima Bhattacharya) to ask women to organise protest rallies against the increase in LPG prices. If needed, wear black clothes. We will protest democratically in a peaceful manner," she said.

Castigating the BJP, Banerjee said, "Yesterday, they increased LPG price by Rs 60. Then they put a lock-in period of 21 days for booking gas. What will people do if their cylinder is exhausted?"

"Should they not have thought about these issues beforehand? They have also reduced the kerosene quota. You are forcefully increasing prices. Why did you not plan all this earlier? Why did you not think about these things?" Banerjee said.

She added that the women's wing protest on March 8, which is International Women's Day, will also be against the deletion of thousands of married women's names from the final voter list published on February 28.

"Many women's names have been deleted during the SIR exercise, under the pretext that their surnames changed after marriage," she added.