LPG Price Hike Sparks Political Clash Over Rising Household Costs

Key Takeaways

• NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, on June 7, 2026, said the Modi government will pay a political price for the hike in LPG prices by ₹29. Prices have surged by ₹89 since the West Asia conflict started. The BJP says global war conditions are to blame.
   
• The ₹29 hike on June 7 is the second in three months. A ₹60 hike came on March 7, 2026, after the Iran-US conflict disrupted supply chains. Opposition leaders have pointed to the BJP’s silence despite staging street protests over similar hikes during the UPA rule.

Did Modi Promise to Control Inflation? Pawar Says the Answer is in Your Gas Bill.

Pawar said on June 7, “The prime minister says inflation is being controlled. Control means subjecting people to step-by-step shock. Those responsible will have to pay a political price.”

He spoke in Kolhapur. Not a press conference. Reporters caught him on the side. That detail matters. It was not a prepared attack. Pawar said prices are hitting household budgets hard at a time when essential commodity costs are already up across the board.

Who Gets Hit the Hardest When LPG Crosses ₹942?

Nine to ten cylinders a year. That is what an average Indian family burns. That’s over ₹8,500 a year on cooking gas, at ₹942 in Delhi. A year ago, it was less than ₹7,700.

Vijay Shetty, President of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, said the government is increasing gas prices step by step. He expects prices to rise further, given the war situation in West Asia. Households have no subsidy buffer unless they are Ujjwala beneficiaries. The urban middle class pays full price.

Did the BJP Protest LPG Hikes Under UPA? Congress Says Yes. So Does the Record.

“Whenever the prices of cooking gas went up during the UPA government, the BJP leaders used to protest,” Maharashtra Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said.  Now, with the second hike in three months, they are quiet.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis pushed back. He said the Iran-US conflict has pushed up fuel costs in every country, not just India. “An appropriate decision will be taken at the right time,” Fadnavis told reporters. The government’s position is that oil marketing companies are still absorbing a loss of nearly ₹700 on every domestic cylinder sold, even after the hike. 

The BJP’s counter-argument is not new. Global prices, war, supply chains. But the opposition’s counter is also not new. You were louder when you were not in power.

Conclusion

Two hikes. Three months. ₹89 has gone from household budgets since the West Asia conflict began. India’s crude oil imports recovered slightly in May 2026, which means rising to 4.9 million barrels per day. But that is still below the 5.2 million barrels recorded in February, before the war began. Supply chains have not normalised. Until they do, the political fight over cooking gas will not cool down either.

FAQs 

1. Why is the BJP accusing the opposition of the LPG price hike?

“This is not only in India. The war has led to an increase in fuel prices in every country,” Fadnavis said. More than 90% of India’s LPG imports are from West Asia. When those supply routes break down, prices go up. That part is factually correct. But the opposition’s real question is not about global prices. It is about consistency. BJP leaders, including senior ministers, publicly protested on the streets when LPG prices rose under the UPA government. The same voices are now silent. That is what Congress and NCP (SP) are pointing to. The global war argument explains the hike. It does not explain the silence.

2. Sharad Pawar’s statement on LPG prices: What does it really mean for the BJP politically?

Pawar is not a fringe voice. He is a man who has been in politics for over half a century in Maharashtra. The citizens in the state pay attention to him whenever he addresses a crowd in Kolhapur on a Sunday, and not in the format of a press conference. The price rise of ₹89 after February 2026 is true. It comes to you in the form of your monthly budget. The Maharashtra assembly election is knocking at your door. Pawar knows that. So does BJP. Fadnavis responded the same day, which tells you the party is not treating this as low-stakes noise.