New Delhi: While discussing fuel prices, Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar rose in Lok Sabha, flashed raw brinjal and took a bite out of it, impressing that skyrocketing cooking gas prices are becoming out of reach for the poor, NDTV reported.
On Monday, she said that she thanked the chair for allowing the price-rise debate and added that it's high time the debate was carried out.
The MP asked whether the government wanted people to eat raw vegetables and bit the brinjal to imply that raising cooking gas prices would force them to resort to raw vegetables.
The MP said that LPG cylinder prices were raised four times in the past few months, from Rs 600 to Rs 1,100. The prices should be brought back, she said.
The cooking gas price was hiked, for the eighth time this year, by Rs 50 in July. The cost of non-subsidised LPG is Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi at present.
Now, common households pay non-subsidised rates for cooking gas after the Centre restricted limited subsidy to only low-income beneficiaries under the Ujjwala scheme.
The Parliament resumed on Monday after disruptions, two adjournments, suspensions and revoking of suspensions.