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The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance staged a protest in Tiruchirappalli on Sunday as part of a statewide agitation against the Centre-ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), amid the ongoing West Asia conflict impacting global fuel supplies.
The demonstration, led by Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister and DMK Principal Secretary K N Nehru, saw participation from party leaders and cadres who raised slogans against the Union government, highlighting public hardships arising from the LPG shortage. Addressing a public rally, Nehru said, "Edappadi Palaniswami, who served as Chief Minister for four years, is now saying that the Chief Minister should intervene and resolve the LPG cylinder shortage. However, the gas sector is under the control of the Union Government, and the State Government can only request the Centre to take action. Citing the upcoming elections, Edappadi Palaniswami is blaming the Chief Minister. They keep talking about alliances instead of addressing people's concerns. If they truly cared about the people, they should simply demand an adequate supply of cooking gas." He added, "Chief Minister immediately convened a meeting and, due to the shortage of LPG, announced a Rs 2 subsidy for electricity for those using electric stoves. Stalin will return as Chief Minister after winning 200 seats again." On Saturday, the Chief Minister, M K Satlin, announced that restaurants, tea shops, cloud kitchens, and other food production units that switch from LPG to electric stoves will receive a subsidy of Rs 2 per unit for the additional electricity consumed. This subsidy will remain in force for the duration of the restrictions on commercial LPG usage imposed by the Central Government. The shortage of LPG has emerged amid global energy supply disruptions triggered by the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Meanwhile, there have been no reports of dry-outs of gas supply at LPG distributorships across India, the government said on Sunday in its latest update. In a statement, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that LPG bookings have shown a decline, with about 77 lakh bookings recorded yesterday compared to 88.8 lakh bookings on March 13, 2026. Several States and UTs, including Bihar, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, have issued orders for allocation of non-domestic LPG in line with government guidelines. The Ministry said that commercial LPG cylinders have been placed at the disposal of State Governments for priority distribution and are now available to consumers in 30 States and UTs. Similarly, no cases of fuel dry-outs have been reported at retail outlets by Oil Marketing Companies, and supplies of petrol and diesel continue to be maintained regularly, the ministry said. However, citizens are advised not to resort to panic buying as adequate stocks of petrol and diesel are available across the country. "All refineries are operating at high capacity and maintaining adequate crude oil inventories. Our country remains self-sufficient in the production of petrol and diesel and, no imports of petrol and diesel are required to meet domestic demand," said the ministry. (ANI)
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