Bengaluru, 11 April

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said that the Centre does not want Karnataka to be given the fuel and LPG allocations it deserves amid the West Asia conflict.

"The State has already written a letter to the Centre regarding this,” he told press on Saturday. “We have asked them to give us the allocation we deserve. The Centre does not want us to be given an LPG allocation. We do not want one thing to happen to another. The CM also spoke. The Central Government is not responding to our request.”

Parameshwara suggested that the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah might appoint a dedicated representative to resolve the supply crisis following the conclusion of the ongoing elections.

"After the elections, the CM may probably assign someone to handle this problem," he added. It was not immediately clear what elections he was referring to.

Earlier Siddaramaiah wrote to Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, seeking the Centre’s urgent intervention and arguing that Karnataka was receiving only 1,000 cylinders per day for commercial use against the demand of 50,000, forcing hotels and business to shut shop.  

Karnataka Food andCivil Supplies Minister, KH Muniyappa has said that there is no "actual" shortage for domestic or public transport needs. However, he said that private LPG companies, which used to provide 65 per cent of LPG for auto rickshaws, had halted operations or hiked prices, creating an artificial shortage, which resulted in the long lines of autos formed across the State.

He said that the Centre must intervene to sort the issue.