NEW DELHI: The Congress has decided to increase the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders from six to nine in states run by the party.
Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi Wednesday said that the party high command has asked all its chief ministers to increase the LPG cap from six to nine cylinders.
"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked all chief ministers of the Congress Party to increase LPG cap from six to nine," he said.
Congress leaders K.V. Thomas, Harish Rawat, Oomen Chandy and Virbhadra Singh had earlier sought a rollback.
Dwivedi further said that the Congress Party is looking into West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee's demands.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram earlier today said Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has tried to talk to Mamata Banerjee, but there has been no response from the other end.
"We have tried to speak to her four days ago. The Prime Minister tried to speak to her. We have left a message. We have not heard back from her," he told media persons here.
This decision was taken at the Congress Core Committee meeting to discuss the political developments after the Trinamool Congress announced it was exiting the UPA government.
The Congress Core Committee meeting was held at 7, Race Course Road, the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was present at the meeting that began at 10 am.
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee announced her party's decision to quit the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government Tuesday evening, four days after the central government announced a wave of reforms aimed at kickstarting a stagnant economy.
Banerjee said that Trinamool's six ministers -- one cabinet-rank and five ministers of state -- would submit their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Friday.
However, Banerjee gave a lifeline to UPA, saying she would reconsider withdrawal of support if the government took back its decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, cut the hiked diesel prices by Rs.3, and raised the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders each household can get in a year to 12.
The Trinamool has 19 members in the Lok Sabha and is the second largest constituent in the multi-party UPA.
The decision to quit brings the UPA's strength in the 545-seat Lok Sabha from 273 to 254, which is slightly below the half-way mark.
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