Avinash Azad
The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly witnessed a heated exchange on Thursday after BJP members raised slogans of “6 cylinders kahan gaye” and “Cylinder chor hai haai” over the government’s announcement of six LPG cylinders for AAY families. The ruling National Conference members responded with “Chanda chor beth jawo”, leading to noisy scenes in the House.
The controversy erupted after Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Satish Sharma, announced that the government had approved the provision of six free LPG cylinders annually to families covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
The announcement immediately drew objections from BJP legislators, who reminded the government of the National Conference’s earlier promise of providing more LPG cylinders to eligible families. Leader of Opposition, Sunil Sharma, and other BJP members questioned why the government was announcing six cylinders when, according to them, a promise of 12 cylinders had been made.
The BJP legislators then raised slogans including “6 cylinders kahan gaye” and “Cylinder chor hai haai”, disrupting the proceedings for some time.
The slogans were followed by a counter-response from NC members, who shouted “Chanda chor beth jawo”. The expression was used as a political reference to allegations surrounding donations collected for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
The verbal exchange soon turned into a noisy confrontation between the Treasury and opposition benches. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, repeatedly intervened and appealed to members to maintain order and allow the proceedings to continue.
Speaking to the media after the episode, Sunil Sharma criticised the language used by members of the ruling side and described it as disrespectful and unparliamentary.
Without directly naming Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhary, Sharma also referred to him as an “accidental minister”, saying that he did not consider it necessary to respond to what such a minister says. The BJP has maintained that the government should explain the difference between its present announcement and the earlier electoral commitment regarding LPG cylinders. The government, meanwhile, has approved six free refills annually for AAY families, with the implementation process and modalities being worked out.
