Mumbai, March 29 Maharashtra minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha has written to his cabinet colleague Chhagan Bhujbal, who heads the civil supplies department, requesting LPG cylinders for Jain temples in his Malabar Hill constituency.
While the move drew criticism from certain quarters, Lodha said that some individuals were spreading rumors with political motives, emphasizing that if anyone in his constituency requires cooking gas for religious purposes, he would make efforts to facilitate it.
In his letter to Bhujbal, Lodha has sought five commercial gas cylinders for each of the 16 Jain temples for religious observance "Oli Ayambil" during the month of Chaitra.
However, a few organizations and residents questioned whether such a request for a particular community was appropriate given what they claimed was a cooking gas shortage amid the West Asia conflict.
They claimed that community meals during Ram Navami were affected due to the "lack" of gas.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also objected to the move and wrote to gas agencies, raising "concerns over inconvenience to the general public." It alleged pressure on them to supply to a specific community and warned of action if anyone engaged in black-marketing of cooking gas.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said there is a gas "shortage" in the state. However, claims are being made that the situation is normal, he said, referring to what he claimed were "long queues" for gas in Gujarat.
After his letter to Bhujbal surfaced on social media, Lodha had said in a tweet on Friday, "Gas required for religious purposes is not available from the general quota. If anyone in my assembly constituency needs gas for religious work, I will certainly make efforts for it.”
Some individuals are spreading rumors with political motives, which is absolutely wrong, he said. If they have received any such demand for religious work, they should forward it to me, the BJP minister said.
In another post on X on Sunday, he said, “Today, I arranged for the provision of gas for the bhandara programme of the Om Shri Sadguru Sainath Ram Navami Padyatra Mandal in my constituency. I am delighted to have been able to extend my support for this religious programme in the constituency.”