New Delhi, March 13 Delhi Congress workers staged a demonstration in the national capital on Friday against the shortage of LPG cylinders and rising prices, attempting to cook chapati on a traditional stove by the roadside as a form of protest.
Party leaders blamed the government for the sale of LPG cylinders on the black market and the difficulties faced by families and small businesses in procuring them.
Hundreds of party workers gathered outside the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) office, carrying placards and raising slogans demanding a reversal of the recent LPG price hike.
Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav accused the central government of burdening households through repeated price hikes at a time when people were already struggling with inflation.
"We have made a lot of compromises. Because of this, today, cylinders have disappeared from the kitchens of this country. People are being forced to cook their food and tea on stoves instead," Yadav said.
He also alleged that Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and the Modi government were responsible for the sale of LPG cylinders on the black market and for the economic distress faced by people.
Visuals showed stacks of cow dung cakes, commonly used as fuel, placed next to the traditional stove to symbolize a return to traditional cooking methods due to rising gas prices.
Some leaders and workers also stood on a bus parked nearby, chanting slogans such as "Reverse the gas price hike" and "Stop the costly gas supply".
A party member said the protesters marched a short distance from the DPCC office before being stopped by police. Devender Yadav, Pushpa Singh, Tasveer Solanki and several others were detained and later released.
Protesters claimed the surge in prices had affected livelihoods dependent on LPG.
"This black marketing of gas and the loss of livelihoods for street vendors, small hotels, and common people who depend on gas for their daily lives has created a crisis," a Congress worker said.
The protesters also alleged that while LPG cylinders cost around Rs 400 during the Congress-led government, the price has now risen to Rs 913 after a recent Rs 60 hike, with some claiming cylinders were being sold for as high as Rs 2,000 in the black market.