West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the Centre’s decision to slash LPG prices by Rs 200 as an impact of the INDIA opposition alliance.

Earlier in the day, the central government announced a Rs 200 per cylinder cut in prices of domestic cooking gas as it looked to counter the cheaper LPG promise of the Congress in upcoming assembly elections in states like Madhya Pradesh.

“Till now, only TWO meetings have been held in the past TWO months by the INDIA alliance and today, we see that LPG prices have gone down by Rs 200. Yeh hai #INDIA ka dum!” Banerjee said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Trinamul Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also dubbed the Centre’s move as a “poll gimmick” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

A 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in Calcutta costs now Rs 1,129, and it will come down to Rs 929 when the new price comes into effect on Wednesday.

Cooking gas prices have shot up in the last couple of years and have become a major election issue.

Announcing the decision in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, however, said it was a gift from the Narendra Modi government to women on the occasion of Onam and Raksha Bandhan.

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