The Narendra Modi government today said that the LPG cylinder price will be brought down by Rs 200 for all users across the country. Union Minister Anurag Thakur, speaking to the media, described the price reduction as a Raksha Bandhan gift from the Prime Minister.
The decision was waiting to be taken. Leaving aside economics, the political fall-out of LPG prices was felt during the Karnataka election campaign. The BJP lost the election badly to the Congress party, which described the election as the 'LPG election'.
The PM and his team have been advised by political strategists and well-wishers to reduce the prices of LPG, petrol and diesel so that the impact of the price rise is not felt in the Assembly elections later this year (due to be held in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and Rajasthan).
Meanwhile, opposition parties are expected to call out the NDA government. "How does increasing the price by Rs 700 and later reducing it by Rs 200 considered a gift? Modi ji still burdens the middle class and poor by Rs 500. Can this be called a Raksha Bandhan gift?" asked the BRS party's social media convenor Dinesh Chowdary.
