No Energy Shortage in India: Govt Assures in All-Party Meeting as West Asia War Rages

New Delhi: The BJP-led central government has given another assurance to the country, this time, in an all-party meeting, that India does not currently face any energy shortage on Wednesday. This assurance comes on the day the Opposition leaders staged a protest inside the Parliament complex, amid concerns over LPG shortage and global tensions linked to the ongoing war in West Asia. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju were among the senior Ministers present.

After the meeting, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “I want to thank all the members of all parties who participated in the meeting. All the opposition leaders' questions and queries were answered by the government. All the opposition parties have assured us that they will stand with the government in all the steps the government takes according to the situation.”

The Foreign and Petroleum Secretaries briefed all the leaders present at the meet. 

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, SP’s Dharmendra Yadav, CPI-ML’s Sudama Prasad, DMK’s T Sumathy, and JMM’s Mahua Maji, were seen protesting near the Makar Dwar as the was in West Asia continued to rage for weeks, triggering an LPG panic in the country.

In the highly-anticipated meeting, the Foreign and Petroleum Secretaries are slated to brief all the leaders. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju will be attend the meeting from the government's side.

Earlier in the day, the BJP and the Opposition traded barbs over the Centre's decision to convene an all-party meeting on the West Asia crisis. The Opposition called it a delayed move, and even raised questions why Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be attending the crucial meeting. The BJP, on the other hand, accused the Opposition of politicising the global crisis.

Opposition parties claimed that the meeting was long overdue and questioned the prime minister's "absence", noting that such discussions during major global crises have traditionally been led by the PM.

Congress whip in the Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, also criticised the government's foreign policy, saying that the government appeared to be compromised.

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