BJP's 'desperation' ahead of assembly polls behind LPG price cuts: JD(U)

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD(U) on Wednesday asserted that the "desperation" felt by BJP ahead of assembly polls in a number of states has caused the Centre to slash cooking gas prices by Rs 200 per cylinder.

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh "Lalan" also claimed that once the polls were over, the Narendra Modi government may announce a "Rs 600 per cylinder" hike.

"Why did they (the Centre) not announce the cut earlier? It has become a habit of the BJP to make promises during elections and go back on these afterwards, claiming these were a rhetoric (jumla),” Lalan told PTI Video.

The central government on Tuesday announced a Rs 200 per cylinder cut in prices of domestic cooking gas.

The JD(U) chief claimed the BJP-led NDA was rattled by the momentum gained by the opposition coalition INDIA, "for which the initiative was taken by Nitish Kumar".

"This desperation manifested in the NDA meeting headed by the Prime Minister in July, on a day (opposition bloc) INDIA too was holding its meet in Bengaluru. No one except the PM, who had not cared to hold NDA meetings since taking over in 2014, was allowed to speak," alleged Lalan.

The JD(U) chief also mocked the BJP-led coalition for "counting on parties which do not have a single member in any assembly or Parliament" and claimed the "desperation" had prompted NDA allies in Maharashtra to call yet another meeting coinciding with that of INDIA in Mumbai.

"It is the same desperation that has led them to cut gas prices. They should know that prices are so high that 95 per cent of Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries are unable to get refills for their cylinders. They may raise the price again after polls by Rs 600 per cylinder", alleged Lalan.

Lalan ducked a query about speculations that Siromani Akali Dal and Indian National Lok Dal, both led by people having excellent relations with Nitish Kumar, may attend the INDIA meeting later this week.

"We will see what happens," quipped the JD(U) president, replying to a query on new entrants, the possibility of which was hinted at by the Bihar CM recently.

Lalan also alleged that the Centre's submission before the Supreme Court on caste survey has "exposed the BJP's anti-OBC and anti-reservations" stance.

He also charged the BJP, the main opposition party in Bihar, with trying to trigger a "religious frenzy" by raising objections to "curtailed Hindu festival holidays" in schools run by the state government.