Stop feeding dry fruits to 'friends': Rahul advises PM on inflation

NEW DELHI : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over growing inflation and advised him to stop entertaining "friends" and start attending to the public who have been suffering due to the price rise. Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and said in Hindi, "Big announcement by the Rajasthan government to give LPG gas cylinders for Rs 500, which is half the price of the one set by the Central government. Prime Minister Ji, stop feeding dry fruits to the friends, and serve the people suffering from inflation ('mitro' ko mewa khilana band kijie, mehangai se trast janta ki sewa kijie)".

The Congress leader is currently in Rajasthan amid his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is observing its last day in the Congress-ruled state. The foot march will enter Haryana on Wednesday. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday announced a scheme for providing cylinders to the poor in the state at the reduced rate of Rs 500 each. "The state government is continuously taking public welfare decisions to provide maximum relief to the poor. In this direction, the state government is now developing a scheme to provide LPG cylinders to the poor at a cheaper rate," Gehlot tweeted.

He said under this scheme, the people under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) will get 12 cylinders in a year at the rate of Rs 500 each. "With the implementation of the scheme, from April 1, 2023, at the rate of Rs 500 per cylinder, BPL and poor people enrolled for the (central government's) 'Ujjwala' scheme will be able to get 12 cylinders in a year. This will reduce the financial burden on the common man in this era of inflation," he said in a subsequent tweet.

CM Gehlot also informed that the state government is also planning to provide kits containing kitchen items to the needy. "The senior officials are preparing a roadmap to implement the scheme in the state. Along with this, a plan will also be made by the state government to provide kits of kitchen items to the needy people," he said in another tweet. Last week though, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that inflation has come down and expressed confidence that it will reduce further. Replying to a debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants 2022-23 in Lok Sabha on December 14, Sitharaman said "inflation is now in the tolerable band of the RBI".