Anti-LPG price hike protests by BRS set to echo across Telangana on March 8

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday called upon the party leaders and workers to take up protests across the State on Friday as well as on Women's day on March 8 against the decision of the Centre to increase the prices of LPG cylinders.

The BRS leader held a tele-conference with the Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and district presidents of the party. Rama Rao said that it had become a habit for the Central government to hike gas cylinder prices every time after the completion of State government elections. Expressing his anger over the Central government's hike in gas cylinder prices, Rama Rao asked whether this increase in the prices were Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gift to the women of the country on the occasion of Women's Day?.

The domestic cylinder price has been hiked by Rs 50 and the commercial cylinder price by Rs 350. Moreover, it is shameful that the cylinder price was increased immediately after the voters had exercised their right to vote in the States where the elections were concluded. The BRS working president called upon the party cadre to take up protest on a large scale against the price rise by the Centre in all the constituencies, towns and mandals on Friday. He asked the party leaders to take up innovative protests. The party cadre should take up protest even on the occasion of Women's Day on March 8 against the Central government's inefficient policies on gas price hike.

Rama Rao said that the price of a cylinder, which was Rs 400 before the Modi government, has gone from Rs 1160 to Rs 1200 now. People are facing many difficulties due to rising cylinder prices. There is a lot of anger among the people over rising cylinder prices and increase in essential commodities. People are facing many problems due to this increase in prices. The protests should be taken up in such a manner that the issues of the people are brought to the notice of the central government.

Rao appealed to the TRS party rank and file to ensure that the message that the central government was raising prices without paying attention to the hardships faced by the people should reach the masses through the local media. On the one hand, the BJP government, which has played tricks in the name of Ujjwala scheme, was increasing the cylinder prices heavily. Even the first woman who benefited from Prime Minister Modi's Ujjwala scheme was unable to afford a cylinder and was cooking on a wood stove today. KTR demanded that the central government should not raise the cylinder prices in an arbitrary way, but immediately reduce the increased prices.