New Delhi: A Trinamool MP chose a dramatic way to question the government over the rising LPG prices as she flashed an aubergine (Brinjal) in Lok Sabha, and took a bite out of it while asking the government whether it wants people to eat their food raw.
"Lakhs of women in the villages are seen using the traditional methods of burning wood to cook food because those who got a cylinder under Ujjwala scheme, they don't have the money to refill it. Lakhs of cylinders are empty because the fuel prices have shot up. Sometimes I wonder whether this government wants us to eat our food raw," Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said as she bit a Brinjal as her fellow MPs were seen grinning.
The cost of LPG cylinders has increased four times in the last few months, she added. "Three or four years ago, one LPG cylinder cost Rs 600. Today it is Rs 1100. From where will a poor person manage this Rs 1100 to refill the cylinder? The government must think about it and reduce the LPG price," she said. The TMC MP then took a dig at BJP minister Smriti Irani who, during her days in opposition, took to the streets holding a gas cylinder to condemn the rising fuel prices.
"The minister used to shout a lot on LPG prices but as soon they came to power, she forgot about it. She used to take out processions carrying a cylinder. She is not here. I don't want to name her," Kakoli said. Earlier in the day, Congress held the BJP-led central government responsible for the price rise, saying its decisions have hit hard 25 crore households in the country and widened the divide between the rich and the poor.
Initiating a debate on the issue of the price rise in Lok Sabha, Congress member Manish Tewari alleged that savings, investment, production, consumption, and employment, the five pillars of the economy, have been blown away due to the wrong policies of the Union government. During the UPA regime, 27 crore people were brought above the poverty line.
Then it was learned from a report, which was made public in 2021, that as many as 23 crore people are once again below the poverty line, he said. While the number of billionaires in India increased from 100 to 142 in these years, the income of those in the lower strata has been decreasing day by day, he said. He said it is unfortunate that 77 per cent of the country's wealth is in the hands of one percent of the population and the wealth of the 92 most rich persons in India put together is equal to that of 55 crore Indians.
There can't be bigger inequality than this in our country, he said
