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Informist, Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Wednesday said the "source-based" assurances being peddled by the Narendra Modi government are "fake", but the crisis emerging out of the crisis in West Asia is "real". He alleged that despite knowing war was imminent, the government did nothing to secure India's energy supply and now the common people will bear the brunt.

 

Kharge, who is also leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, demanded a detailed discussion on the crisis in Parliament and a reply from the prime minister. Kharge said farmers would be the first to suffer as fuel shortages hit agriculture as well as the supply of fertilisers.

 

As the military conflict in West Asia, which has affected the production and transportation of oil and gas in the Persian Gulf region, entered its twelfth day Wednesday, the shortage of liquefied petroleum gas has already started affecting Indian consumers. The government has invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and started rationing LPG cylinders for domestic use.

 

Given the acute shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, restaurants and small eateries are being forced to shut down. "Medicine prices likely to surge as raw material costs rise nearly 30%. From ceramics and glass to FMCG and automobiles, every sector is feeling the heat. Every product likely to become costlier," Kharge wrote on social media platform X.

 

The Congress leader said this "pattern of denial" by the Modi government is not new. "At the time of demonetisation, we were told cash shortages would end in 50 days," he said. "At the time of the COVID pandemic, we were told it was not a serious emergency. Now we are told India has 74 days of oil and energy stocks."

 

The veteran politician demanded "truth" from the government. "We demand a full discussion on this crisis in Parliament and the prime minister must answer the nation," he said.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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