UPA is gas and gimmicks: Trinamool Congress

The Trinamool Congress Thursday came down heavily on the Congress-led UPA government's decision to raise the cap on subsidised cooking gas cylinders to nine, terming it as "all gas and gimmicks".

The party's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien tweeted, "The Congress-led minority (United Progressive Alliance) government is not managing the economy as much as damaging the economy. Its role model is Tughlaq".

"The UPA government is all gas and gimmicks...like a shop that raises prices 100 percent and then offers token discounts. Pre-budget price hikes are similar," he said.

The Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the Congress-led alliance and quit the UPA last year over its economic policies.

The cabinet has approved a proposal to raise to nine the ceiling on subsidised cooking gas from six cylinders and allowed public sector firms to hike diesel prices from "time to time".

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily said the decision to increase the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders eligible for each household would come into effect from April 2013.