M A Baby Criticises Centre Over LPG Shortage in Country

Varanasi: CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby has criticised the Centre over the ongoing LPG crisis across the country, citing that free community kitchens at the Annapurna Temple, which falls under the Prime Minister's constituency, have been forced to shut down due to the crisis.

In a post on X, Baby said he learned about the development after reaching Varanasi to take part in the Jan Akrosh Jatha protest. He stated that the temple’s Annakshetras—community kitchens that have served food to thousands of people daily for decades—had stopped operations for the first time because of a shortage of LPG cylinders.

The CPI(M) leader described the situation as evidence of what he called the “failure” of the governments led by Narendra Modi at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh. He said the shutdown of the kitchens in the Prime Minister’s own parliamentary constituency highlighted the severity of the cooking gas crisis affecting several parts of the country.

“People need relief, not rhetoric,” Baby wrote, urging the authorities to address the shortage and ensure uninterrupted supply of LPG cylinders to institutions and households.