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LPG price hike will hit commoners: NDA allies

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Yesterday's increase in prices of liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene today elicited adverse reactions from allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party who said it would be a major burden on the common man.

"The government may have cited compelling reasons for the increase, but the fact is that our voters, the overwhelming majority of the have-nots, will find it a major burden. We are not happy about it and my party will decide its strategy after discussions with other National Democratic Alliance partners," said K Yerran Naidu, leader of the Telugu Desam Party in the Lok Sabha.

Janata Dal United spokesman Mohan Prakash also expressed unhappiness at the decision, and said his party was in a meeting to take stock of the situation. He said he would express an opinion after the meeting.

"Kerosene is an essential commodity for the poor man and my party is naturally upset over the increase in its price. We will discuss the consequences threadbare and decide what is to be done," he added.

The initial reaction of Trinamul Congress spokesman Sudip Bandopadhyay was similar. "They have finally effected it [the increase in prices of kerosene and LPG] and we have to take cognisance. We cannot sit idle after promising our voters that we will protect their interests. We are in the midst of discussions on how best to meet the situation," he said.

Bandopadhyay too indicated that a discussion with the other NDA partners on the matter was a possibility.

The government's explanation is that the price hike in kerosene and LPG comes in the wake of a sharp increase in global oil prices over the last one year. It pointed out that yesterday's hike, deferred by many months due to electoral pressures, had doubled the oil subsidy bill to Rs 63 billion this year. It was slated to touch Rs 190 billion over the next year.

It further pointed out that it was losing Re one per litre on the sales of aviation fuel. However, the price of diesel, to be hiked by Rs 3.10 per litre, was not resorted to soften the impact on the consumers.

So far, the subsidy on each cylinder of LPG was Rs 162 and Rs 7.83 per litre on kerosene. The government underscored that despite yesterday's hike, the subsidy on LPG will still be Rs 132 per cylinder and that on kerosene will be Rs 5.33 per litre.

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