2 months ago
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Ahead of the forthcoming Assembly election, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to lead a protestation rally successful Kolkata against the intensifying LGP (liquefied petroleum gas) and CNG (compressed earthy gas) crisis.
The rally volition statesman astatine cardinal Kolkata’s College Square at 4 p.m. and end astatine Dorina Crossing successful Esplanade on Monday (March 16, 2026). Ms. Banerjee volition beryllium joined by enactment wide caput and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee. “Protesting the harassment faced by the general public due to skyrocketing terms hikes successful cooking state and the Centre’s rash decisions regarding commercial state supply,” a poster announcing the rally said.
On Thursday (March 12, 2026), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) enactment powerfully criticised the Union government’s overseas policy decisions.
State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya criticised the Central government’s deficiency of preparation. “The warfare successful West Asia did not statesman overnight. It escalated implicit months... The Strait of Hormuz carries 85-90% of India’s LPG imports. None of this was a secret. Yet, nary strategical reserves were built, nary alternate proviso routes activated, and nary contingency protocols were triggered,” Ms. Bhattacharya said.
The Centre had made “false promises” to the States and citizens that substance would beryllium disposable usually and nary proviso disruptions would instrumentality place, she alleged.
On Wednesday (March 11, 2026), Ms. Banerjee held an emergency gathering with State authorities officers and representatives of lipid selling companies to negociate the vigor situation successful West Bengal. Refined state produced astatine Bengal’s ain refineries — Haldia, Kalyani, and Durgapur — should not beryllium exported retired of the State until the situation normalised, the CM told officials.
“She besides secured assurances connected uninterrupted proviso for mid-day meals, ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) centres, hospitals, and home consumers. All of which was expected to beryllium done by the PM but was alternatively done by our CM,” Ms. Bhattacharya said connected Ms. Banerjee’s strategy to negociate the crisis.
The Minister said the request for cylinders successful the State had jumped from 2 lakh to six lakh bookings successful a substance of days owed to panic among the people.
Trinamool MLA Tanmay Ghosh blamed the Central government’s overseas argumentation decisions for the ongoing crisis. “This authorities has reduced overseas affairs to a circus... They person failed successful overseas argumentation aggregate times, and the radical of the state are bearing the brunt of it,” Mr. Ghosh said, adding that the Central authorities was not “atmanirbhar” (self-reliant) successful immoderate way.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Samik Bhattacharya alleged the Trinamool was creating an artificial crisis. “The apical enactment is holding distributors astatine gunpoint to hoard LPG cylinders,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.
Ms. Bhattacharya countered his allegations. “We volition inquire dealers to halt selling and they volition perceive to us? They are saying each this due to the fact that they person no rightful mentation to connection to the citizens,” she said.
On March 8, the Chief Minister and different Trinamool leaders held protests implicit the summation successful the terms of home cooking state by ₹60 per cylinder.
Crisis deepens
Long queues formed extracurricular state organisation offices crossed the State. Autorickshaw drivers waited successful serpentine queues for hours to get their tanks filled astatine CNG pumps, and demanded hikes successful fares. Some drivers reported waiting successful lines from 4.30 a.m. lone to get fractional a vessel of state 5 hours later.
“A black market dealer successful our locality is selling cylinders for ₹2,500 each and taking advantage of the crisis. People are buying successful desperation because they cannot halt eating,” a nonmigratory of south Kolkata told The Hindu on Thursday (March 11, 2026).
Several authorities hospitals switched to utilizing privately owned state cylinders to guarantee patients received their meals, portion different facilities, including Suri Hospital, and the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital reported important shortages.
