Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir called the protest by Bharat Rashtra Samithi against the hike of LPG gas cylinders as “mere drama”.
In a media statement here on Thursday Shabbir said the protests are a way to divert the common man’s attention.
“If the BRS government is concerned about its citizens it should help them by providing subsidies on domestic gas cylinders,” Shabbir said.
Citing examples of the Congress-run Rajasthan government Shabbir said that chief minister Ashok Gehlot has announced that gas cylinders will be sold at Rs 500/- and urged Telangana CM to follow the same.
Shabbir also said that during the Congress-led UPA rule petrol and diesel prices were heavily subsidized, and cooking gas prices were kept under control.
“The average price of petrol was around Rs. 63/litre, diesel was around Rs. 49/litre and cooking gas was around Rs. 400/cylinder. However, these prices have increased to Rs. 109.66/litre for petrol; Rs. 97.82/litre for diesel and Rs. 1155/cylinder after the recent hike of Rs. 50,” he remarked.
Shabbir alleges that Telangana people are slowly realising both BRS and the BJP are anti-poor.
“The state government is collecting the highest taxes on petrol and diesel in the country, at 35.2% and 27%, respectively. While the Modi government is failing to control the rising prices, the KCR government is adding to the burden by not reducing the state’s taxes.”
