Congress MP Sukhdeo Bhagat demands all-party meeting to discuss energy security concerns

Backing Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi's statement in Parliament, Sukhdeo Bhagat said that the reported LPG shortage is not a party-specific issue and urged the Centre to take the public into confidence.

Slamming the Centre, he also claimed that Rahul Gandhi's mic was switched off while he was addressing the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

"Why did the central government not call an all-party meeting to discuss the current situation? This is not an issue of the BJP or Centre; if you do not take the people of the nation into confidence, how will you provide a solution? The government should call an all-party meeting. They even switched off the mic of Rahul Gandhi when he raised this issue in Parliament yesterday. The government does not even want to discuss it. They are presenting lies to the nation," Bhagat told ANI.

However, BJP MP Rekha Sharma slammed Rahul Gandhi, accusing Congress of creating panic around the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders.

Rekha Sharma told ANI, "Even the Chief Ministers of various states are saying that there is no shortage of LPG. We should learn from Congress how to make an issue out of nothing. Congress just wants to create panic in the nation."

Earlier on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi warned that the ongoing conflict in West Asia and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could have serious consequences for India's energy security, saying that "the pain has just started."

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran is likely to have far-reaching global and domestic repercussions.

"A war has broken out in the Middle East. The United States, Israel and Iran are at war. This war is going to have far-reaching consequences. The central artery through which 20 per cent of the global oil flows, the Strait of Hormuz, has been closed. This is going to have tremendous repercussions, particularly for us, because a very large portion of our oil and natural gas comes through the Strait of Hormuz. The pain has just started. Restaurants are closing. There's widespread panic about LPG... This is only the beginning," Gandhi said.

However, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured Parliament that India's energy supplies remain secure despite major global disruptions caused by the ongoing conflict in West Asia and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

In his statement in the Lok Sabha, Puri said the government has taken multiple measures to safeguard the country's energy security and ensure the uninterrupted availability of petroleum products, cooking gas, and natural gas. (ANI)