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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

West Bengal Congress divided over Left alliance as TMC shuts doors for 2026 polls

With Trinamool Congress ruling out an alliance, Congress faces an internal split over seat-sharing with the Left Front for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

West Bengal

Kolkata: With the Trinamool Congress (TMC) making it clear that it will not ally with Congress for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the grand old party now faces a tough decision—whether to forge an alliance with the CPI(M)-led Left Front or contest independently.


Congress Divided on Left Alliance

The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) appears divided on this issue. One section argues that alliances have historically weakened Congress in the state. They recall how TMC, after forming an alliance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and 2011 Assembly polls, gradually poached Congress leaders and eroded the party’s strength. Similarly, the Congress-Left alliance, which began in 2016, is seen as having made the party overly reliant on seat-sharing rather than rebuilding its own base.

However, others within the party feel that given Congress’ current weak organisational presence in Bengal, contesting alone in 2026 would mean certain defeat. With Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee categorically rejecting a Congress-TMC alliance, they see the Left Front as the only viable partner for a seat-sharing arrangement.


Congress High Command’s Approach

Congress’ central leadership is refraining from imposing any decision on the state unit. Instead, it plans to assess the opinions of state leaders and grassroots workers before finalizing a strategy. A delegation from the All India Congress Committee (AICC), possibly led by national president Mallikarjun Kharge, is expected to visit West Bengal in June or July to evaluate the situation.


CPI(M)’s Stance on Alliances

Meanwhile, CPI(M) has its own reservations about electoral tie-ups. The party’s draft political resolution for its 24th Congress, scheduled in April in Madurai, emphasizes an independent political approach over electoral alliances. The resolution stresses rebuilding the party’s presence in Bengal and Tripura through grassroots mobilization, particularly among rural communities. It also highlights the need to challenge the BJP ideologically while opposing both the TMC and BJP in West Bengal.

Given these complexities, the fate of a Congress-Left alliance remains uncertain, making the 2026 Assembly elections a crucial test for both parties.

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