00:00Ahead of assembly elections in five states that are due later this year and the Lok Sabha
00:08polls next year, the Centre made a significant announcement.
00:11It announced that cooking gas prices were being cut by Rs 200 per cylinder.
00:16This is important because inflation is currently a big problem in India.
00:20Retail inflation is at a 15-month high and this is largely being driven by retail food
00:26inflation which is at a high not seen since January of 2020.
00:30So that means for the last few months people are having to deal with much more expensive
00:35vegetables, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, you name it, everything is much more expensive.
00:41And the government is rattled by this, acutely aware that rising prices are something that
00:46could impact it electorally.
00:48This decision to cut cooking gas prices is also aimed at another important vote bank
00:53of the Modi government or in fact any political party today and that is women.
00:57It is understood that BJP leaders across states have been giving feedback to the party leadership
01:03that women voters in particular have been badly hit with these rising prices and they
01:08are extremely unhappy about it and that the government needed to step in and intervene.
01:12So this may not be the last sop that we hear from the Modi government in the run up to
01:17elections because these inflationary pressures are there.
01:21Moreover, the Congress governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress there have
01:25also announced and made promises of certain schemes that would make LPG cylinders just
01:32450 or 500 rupees per cylinder which is still much less than what is available on the market
01:38today.
01:39So there are going to be competitive politics that will be played over important economic
01:44policies and that really could hold the key to the next general election.
01:51For more information visit www.osho.com
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