Cong to organise LPG funeral to attack Raj govt over price rise

THE BYELECTIONS ARE A PRECURSOR TO THE ASSEMBLY POLLS IN NOVEMBERDECEMBER IN THE STATE WHERE THE RULING BJP IS BATTLING ANTIINCUMBENCY

NEWDELHI: In its bid to corner the BJP government in Rajasthan over price rise ahead of the January 29 Lok Sabha by-elections in Ajmer and Alwar, the Congress is using a novel method to woo voters.

The party will take out a funeral procession of a cooking gas cylinder in Ajmer on Tuesday to protest the increase in LPG prices. The procession, organised by the IT cell of the Rajasthan Congress, will start from Sukh Sadan at Shrinagar Road in Ajmer and culminate at the Gandhi Bhavan Chauraha.

The protest is a retaliatory response to the BJP, which had launched a nationwide agitation while in opposition against the Congress-led UPA government for increasing prices of cooking gas (LPG) cylinders in 2012.

“The rise in cylinder prices has most hit the poor. People were already reeling under the impact of a rise in prices of essential commodities and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has further added to their woes,” said Danish Abrar, head of Rajasthan Congress IT Cell.

The by-elections are a precursor to the assembly polls in November-december in the state where the ruling BJP is battling anti-incumbency. The Congress will hope that issues such as price rise and “deteriorating” law and order situation will result in significant gains.

However, the Congress faces an internal power tussle between former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state president Sachin Pilot. To send a message of unity, all senior leaders, including the two, are likely to address a joint public meeting in Ajmer on Wednesday.

Though Pilot and former Union minister Jitendra Singh are not contesting the by-polls from Ajmer and Alwar respectively, much is at stake for both of them. After losing the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the constituencies, the two young leaders considered close to Congress president Rahul Gandhi have to ensure the victory of the party candidates from their respective strongholds.

The Congress has fielded Karan Singh Yadav against BJP’S Jaswant Singh Yadav in Alwar while Ramswaroop Lamba of the BJP will take on Congress candidate Raghu Sharma from Ajmer.