The Rajasthan government will provide 12 cooking gas cylinders a year to poor households at a subsidised rate of ₹500 from April, chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced on Monday in Alwar in the presence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was in the state on the last day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan.
The current price of domestic cooking gas cylinders in Rajasthan is ₹1,050. The government will provide the subsidy directly to the state-owned retailers, Gehlot said.
“We are creating a category where domestic cooking gas cylinders worth ₹1,050 will be given to the people in this category for ₹500 after April 1, 2023,” he said at a public meeting. “Next month we will present the budget, in which we will bring a plan to distribute kitchen kits to reduce the inflation burden.”
After Rajasthan, the Chhattisgarh government is also likely to make a similar announcement. Both Congress ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will elect new assemblies in December 2023.
The new category of beneficiaries will include those living below the poverty line and those who have received cooking gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme. Till November, the gas connections under the scheme were 6,924,775 in the state.
Speaking at the public rally at the Malakheda area of Alwar, Gandhi responded to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioning the rationale of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Nafrat ke bajaar mein, mohabbat ki dukaan khol raha hoon (In the market of hate, I am opening a shop of love),” he said in Hindi.
““You (BJP) continue with your hatred and abuse me; this is what you believe. Yours is a marketplace of hate and mine of love. I am not talking about myself, but Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar and Abdul Kalam Azad, too, had opened shops of love,” he said.
Attacking the BJP over its promotion of Hindi, Gandhi said one should ask Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP leaders why they were opposing English when their children were studying or have studied in English medium schools.
“I will tell you why. They don’t want the poor to learn English and challenge them. I am not saying that Hindi should not be studied. All the languages of India should be studied, but Hindi will not be useful to talk to the rest of the world. Only English will be useful. That is why 1,700 English medium schools have been started in Rajasthan,” he said. “Every child of Rajasthan should get an opportunity to study English.”
Praising the work of the Rajasthan government, Gandhi said the best schemes for the poor are in the desert state. “In the state, people used to say that we have to get kidney transplant done, but do not have money. This does not happen in Rajasthan as the Chiranjeevi health scheme has removed the pain of lakhs of people,” he said. “It should be implemented in the entire country.”
He asked the Rajasthan Congress leaders to walk 15km a month to connect with the masses. “Voice of our workers and our local leaders should be heard in the government and its offices. More importantly, the voice of the common man of Rajasthan should be heard in every government office,” he said.
The way Gandhi praised the state government’s schemes clearly indicates that there are no chances of any leadership change in Rajasthan before the assembly polls, said political analyst Manish Godha.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said at the rally that efforts are being made to intimidate the Congress, but the party will not be afraid. “After independence, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi gave their life for the country. Not even a dog died in the house of BJP leaders for this country. If Congress says anything, they call the party anti-national,” he said.
Former minister and BJP MLA Vasudev Devnani said it was Rahul Gandi who has always sown seeds of hatred by giving statements against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “He is now doing drama over love,” Devnani said. “People of the country know their history of divide and rule.”
