Left parties, VCK to protest LPG price hike, railway job cuts on May 7

CHENNAI: Left parties and VCK on Sunday announced that they would hold a statewide demonstration in front of Union government offices across Tamil Nadu on May 7, 2026, demanding a rollback of the steep hike in commercial LPG cylinder prices and opposing proposed job cuts in the Railways.

In a joint statement, CPM State Secretary P Shanmugam, CPI State Secretary M Veerapandian, VCK Founder Thol Thirumavalavan, and CPI(ML) Liberation State Secretary Pazha Aasaithambi criticised the Union government for what they termed an unprecedented increase in commercial LPG cylinder prices.

They said the price of a commercial LPG cylinder had risen by Rs 1,518 over the past 120 days, from Rs 1,739 on January 1 this year to Rs 3,257 at present, nearly doubling the cost. The price of 5 kg LPG cylinders, used by migrant workers, street vendors and small households, had also been increased by Rs 261, they said.

Attributing the hike to international price trends was untenable, the leaders said, alleging that the Union government led by Narendra Modi had not passed on the benefits to consumers when global crude oil and LPG prices had declined in the past four years. They added that prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas had not been reduced during this period.

The statement also accused the government of extending concessions to large corporates while imposing a burden on poor and middle-class sections.

Referring to a Railway circular issued on April 24, 2026, the leaders said it called for a 2% annual reduction in workforce. Over 28,000 posts had been reduced last year and more than 29,000 posts were proposed to be cut this year, including 1,906 posts in Southern Railway.

They further alleged that more than three lakh vacancies remained unfilled in the Railways out of 14 lakh sanctioned posts, and about 10 lakh vacancies were unfilled in Union government departments. In central public sector undertakings, the workforce had reduced from 13 lakh to 9 lakh in recent years, they said.

Describing the measures as detrimental to employment prospects, particularly for youth, the leaders urged the Union government to withdraw the LPG price hike and drop the proposed job cuts.

They appealed to the public to support the protest against what they termed as anti-people policies of the Union government.