Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has said the indefinite hunger strike by party leaders across the State in protest against the price hike of LPG cylinders and essential commodities has been called off in the wake of the Central government’s decision to increase the number of subsidised cylinders to 12.
Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Vijayan said the decision to end the strike followed the Central government’s decision to increase the number of subsidised cylinders from nine to 12. The strike was a success and it got support from the people, he said adding that the party had been demanding that the number of subsidised LPG cylinders be raised to 12.
He said the agitation highlighting price rise of essential commodities had also yielded results. The State government had directed Horticorp to intervene in the market to check the hike in prices of vegetables, he said.
The CPI(M) State secretary said the death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, was unfortunate.
Expressing his condolence, he said the death had occurred at a time when a lot of issues emerged in Mr. Tharoor's family.
