It’s LPG versus induction chulhas in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh.
With the proposed LPG hike becoming a major poll headache for the Congress, the state’s BJP government hopes to romp home with induction heaters. Sensing the hike in non-subsidised LPG cylinders could adversely hit the Congress in state elections, the government late on Thursday decided to keep the hike on hold.
If voted back to power, the BJP promises it will provide induction chulhas free of cost to BPL families first, and then to others. The saffron argument: “These chulhas will help every household save `800 every month.”
Speaking in Shimla, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley hit out at the Congress, saying the hike in non-subsidy LPG cylinders “has been put on hold, not withdrawn”. He claimed this hike will be effected once the polls are over. Himachal goes to the polls Sunday, and Friday was the last day of campaigning.
BJP chief minister Prem Singh Dhumal is hoping that the induction chulas will ensure that he gets a third term as CM.
In New Delhi, a section of the Congress is also trying to persuade the government not to go ahead with the increase. This is particularly due to the looming election in Gujarat, which will vote on December 13 and 17.
The price rise and corruption issues dominate the BJP’s poll campaign in Himachal, led by Mr Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur. The party has decided to project the induction chulhas as a “magic lantern” that will balance the domestic budgets of voters.
The Congress, caught in a bind, is relentlessly filing a series of complaints with the Election Commission over the “wrong practices” of the BJP.