Ear to the ground, BJP course corrects, reduces cooking gas price before key state polls

Union Minister Anurag Thakur, who addressed the media after the Cabinet meeting, said the government’s decision was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gift on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and Onam. “PM Modi has decided that LPG price will be reduced by Rs 200 for all consumers. The government will also provide 75 lakh new LPG connections for free under the Ujjwala scheme,” Thakur said.

According to a note from the government, the reduction of Rs 200 per cylinder is in addition to the existing targeted subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder for the beneficiaries of the PM Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). “For PMUY households, therefore, the effective price in Delhi after the reduction will be Rs 703 per litre,” it added.

The announcement is in line with what Modi assured citizens in his Independence Day address. The PM then pointed out that the world was grappling with high inflation after the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war. “India has tried its best to control inflation. Compared to the previous period, we have also had some success, but we cannot be complacent with that. We should not be complacent that our things are better than that of the world. I have to take more steps in this direction to minimise the burden of inflation on my countrymen. And we will continue to take that step. My efforts will continue,” the PM said.

Steps taken in MP

With the party facing a tricky battle in the Assembly polls in three to four months, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has also taken initiatives to address any voter discontent over rising prices. On Sunday, Chouhan announced several sops, including domestic gas cylinders for Rs 450 to women covered under his flagship Ladli Behna Yojana “for the holy month of Sawan”. The CM said a permanent system would be developed later. Under the government scheme, Rs 1,000 will be sent every month to the bank accounts of beneficiaries. Under the scheme, women in the 23-60 age group get a monthly amount transferred to their accounts if they are not income tax payees and the annual income of their families is less than Rs 2.5 lakh. Chouhan said the government had already transferred Rs 250 to beneficiaries as a Rakhi gift, a move that would cost the exchequer Rs 312.64 crore.

Despite Chouhan’s popularity and “Bhai-Mama ji (brother and maternal uncle)” image, factors such as anti-incumbency, internal strife and fatigue have been hurting the BJP’s electoral prospects in the state, which has been its stronghold for more than two decades. During a visit to the state last month, The Indian Express spoke to several women who complained about “real problems” — price rise, especially that of cooking gas — and expressed concern about the effect on their families and young children.

The women pointed out that a household in semi-urban areas would require at least six LPG cylinders annually as there were neither kerosene stoves nor space for “chulhas (traditional stoves)” in their kitchens. Despite the state government’s subsidy, an LPG cylinder cost between Rs 1,131 and Rs 1.187 at the time.

Women are a crucial part of the BJP’s support base in Rajasthan too, where the turnout of women in the last Assembly polls (74.44%) was higher than that of men (73.8%).

“In all the meetings, one message coming from the workers on the ground was about growing disenchantment among women over the price of cooking gas. So, this was on the cards,” said a BJP leader involved with the party’s election efforts in one of the five poll-bound states.

Another leader said, “From previous experience, we can argue that these elections are not a dipstick for the Lok Sabha polls. If we take our experience in 2004 (when the BJP won the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls but lost the Lok Sabha elections) or 2019 (the party lost the states but won the general elections), it may not be. But the party has to take into account that anti-incumbency and boredom are slowly setting in. Big shows such as the success of Chandrayaan-3 or the G-20 meeting can set the optics in favour of the party. But the real election may be much more than that.”

The party functionary added, “This BJP does not take chances. And it is the party’s responsibility to see that the real concerns of people are addressed.”

There are more than 31 crore domestic LPG cylinder consumers in India, including the 9.6 crore PMUY beneficiaries. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri said, “We understand the challenges faced by households in managing their budgets. The reduction in cooking gas price is aimed at providing direct relief to families and individuals while also supporting the government’s larger goal of ensuring affordable access to the essential items.”