Congress stages walkout from MP Assembly over LPG price hike after budget presentation

The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday presented a Rs 3.14 lakh crore state budget for 2023-24, even as the Opposition Congress staged a walkout from the Assembly on the issue of a hike in the LPG cylinder price.

Congress members including former ministers Tarun Bhanot, Vijay Laxmi Sadho and Jitu Patwari created ruckus in the House over the LPG price hike issue the moment state Finance Minister Jagdish Devda started reading out the budget proposals.

Later, the Congress members led by former chief minister Kamal Nath staged a walkout from the House.

"The central government has increased the price of an LPG cylinder by Rs 50, Rs 300 on commercial cylinder, causing lot of hardships to the people," Bhanot told reporters.

He demanded that like the Rajasthan government, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh also provide LPG cylinders at Rs 500 each (to people below poverty line).

Earlier in the morning, Congress members staged a protest in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Assembly premises on the issue of hike in the price of LPG cylinders.