Maha Cong president demands Modi face public as fuel shortage hits households and hotels

Nashik : State Congress president Harshawardhan Sapkal on Friday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi address the nation over the escalating LPG cylinder crisis. Sapkal highlighted that the shortage has not only distressed households but is also forcing hotels and restaurants to shut down due to the non-availability of commercial cylinders.Addressing a convention of party workers from North Maharashtra in Trimbakeshwar, Sapkal led an agitation at a local gas distributorship. He interacted with citizens, including many women, who had been waiting in long queues for hours to secure a single cylinder. "Common citizens are forced to sit in the sun for hours just to get the fuel needed to cook a basic meal at home. The govt has failed to ensure supply while simultaneously hiking rates to unaffordable levels," Sapkal said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains silent while the people suffer. He must face the public and provide answers."During the demonstration, Congress functionaries brandished placards and staged a protest with symbolic gas cylinders to register their dissent against the state and central governments.Women participants at the protest shouted slogans demanding that domestic cylinders be home-delivered at a capped price of Rs500. They also raised concerns over the Public Distribution System (PDS), demanding a return to the supply of essential food grains provided during the previous Congress regime instead of the corn currently being distributed by the government.After listening to the grievances of the local residents, Sapkal assured them that the Indian National Congress would intensify its agitation. "Our party stands firmly with the impoverished citizens. We will not allow this pro-capitalist and pro-trader administration to succeed in its exploitative ambitions," he asserted.Protest by Yuva Sena (UBT)In a parallel development, functionaries of the Yuva Sena (Shiv Sena - UBT) staged a separate protest against rising inflation at the party's central office in Shalimar. The youth wing denounced the government's policies, citing the dual blow of record-high LPG prices and the acute shortage of commercial cylinders that has crippled small businesses across the city.