Punjab House passes resolution against Centre over cooking gas shortage

Participating in the discussion, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said during Operation Sindoor, not even one country stood by India. “We have lost trusted friends like Russia and Iran. Chabahar port investment is lost. We invested in oil fields in Russia which are now closed,” he said.

Claiming that there were long queues outside the gas agencies in Patiala, the minister said induction cooker prices have shot up. LPG shortage will cast a shadow over the wedding season, he said, adding caterers are refunding the advance they had taken. “Punjab has 28 lakh students from other states. What will happen to hostel messes? There is no clarity,” he said.

Supporting the resolution, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said that while there is already a shortage of LPG, petrol and diesel prices are also expected to go up.

Bajwa said that for decades India maintained strong and balanced relations with countries across West Asia. Unfortunately, he said, the BJP-led Union government has weakened that balanced approach. “India today finds itself diplomatically isolated in a region that is crucial for our energy security. Instead of maintaining strategic autonomy and acting in the national interest, the Modi government appears to have sacrificed long-standing relationships just to please the United States and Israel,” Bajwa said.

AAP MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the country is facing a crisis due to the Centre’s wrong policies. Accusing the Centre of “destroying” the country, he claimed that people are facing hardships due to LPG shortage and many restaurants are on the verge of closure, which would lead to unemployment.

Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said, “We invited Iranian ship to India. On the day it was attacked, BJP said ‘not our business’. Nothing could be more shameful than this”.

AAP MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bent before the US and Israel. “The government knew strait of Hormuz could be closed. Now a Deputy Secretary level official of US comes to India and dictates terms,” he said.

Congress’ Avtar Henry said Punjab needs to find a solution to the energy crisies. He said a special session of the Vidhan Sabha be called to discuss renewable energy. “Punjab can develop only if we do not remain dependent upon coal and petroleum. We need to encourage sale of EVs. Why not have electric school buses? Biggest pollution source are plastic carry bags. Either it is being manufactured in Punjab or it is coming from outside. Why cannot we ban it?,” he asked

Good Governance and Information Technology Minister Aman Arora criticised PM Modi. “Vishwaguru reaches Israel and hugs (PM Benjamin) Netanyahu and a day later US and Israel kill Iran’s political leadership…160 Iranian school girls were killed but he (Modi) did utter a single word in sympathy for them. He should have known that in 1994, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) passed a resolution against India for going to UN on Kashmir. Iran had vetoed that resolution,” he said.

He said BJP has also failed in creating domestic policies. “In 12 years of their rule, natural gas production has gone down. Same is the case of crude oil production. LPG import dependence increased from 45 per cent to 66 per cent,” said Arora.

Congress’ Pargat Singh counselled the AAP MLAs that while they are criticising certain business houses for proximity to BJP, it should not be forgotten that the same houses have been invited to the Invest Punjab summit that beginning Friday.

BSP MLA Nachhatar Pal too supported the resolution while Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar blamed Congress for not opposing BJP with full force at the Centre.

Centre has compromised foreign policy, country badly trapped: the resolution

“People of India are continuously facing an LPG shortage. On one hand, the Centre is giving false assurances, but on the other, it has significantly increased LPG prices. The price of a 14-kg domestic cylinder has been increased by Rs 60 and that of a commercial cylinder by Rs 115, which in itself indicates that the shortage is quite severe,” read the resolution.

It added that the National Restaurant Association, which represents more than 5 lakh restaurants across the country, has warned that if the LPG supply is not normalised within the next 72 hours, restaurants may be forced to shut down. “This will impact people who are travelling and rely on roadside eateries for tea and meals. Those who are away from home may face great inconvenience,” the resolution said.

To promote corporates, the central government has “compromised” India’s foreign policy and the country is “badly trapped”, it said. “We can all see that they (the US) play a role in getting a ceasefire. They even decide which country we should purchase oil from and for how many days. India’s foreign policy has been compromised, and today the country is in a critical situation,” it alleged.

There is uncertainty on who India should consider its friend and who it should not. This has cast big doubts on the country’s foreign policy, it said. “Today, the Punjab Legislative Assembly passes a censure motion against the Modi-led Central government for putting the entire country at risk through its wrong policies,” the resolution said.