Chandigarh, March 12 -- Punjab Cabinet minister and AAP state president Aman Arora on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Central government, accusing it of a "comprehensive failure" on both foreign and domestic fronts and claiming that its promises of making India a "Vishwa Guru" and "Aatmanirbhar" now stand exposed.
Speaking on a resolution moved by Food and Civil Supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak in the Assembly, Arora contrasted government claims with what he described as the grim situation faced by ordinary citizens.
The Assembly passed the resolution stating that the "failure of Centre's foreign policy has led to a shortage and increase in price of LPG, causing hardships to people across the country".
Referring to newspaper reports, Arora said there were stories about kilometre-long queues outside gas agencies, hotels on the verge of closure and weddings facing uncertainty due to the shortage of cooking gas. At the same time, he pointed out, a full-page advertisement by the Government of India carried the slogan "Your Home Our First Priority".
Arora argued that such messaging itself indicated that the situation was serious. He also recalled speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before 2014, when he had spoken about India leading the world and becoming self-reliant.
According to Arora, after more than a decade in power, the Central government has not been able to achieve either of those goals. He also criticised what he termed as weaknesses in India's foreign policy, claiming that several neighbouring countries had drifted away from New Delhi and moved closer to China.
Citing official data, the AAP leader said India's natural gas production had declined from 40.68 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2012 to about 35 BCM in 2024, while consumption increased from 47 BCM to 69 BCM. Similarly, he said domestic crude oil production dropped from 37 million metric tonnes in 2013-14 to about 29 million metric tonnes in 2023-24, while consumption rose from 158 million metric tonnes to 233 million metric tonnes.
He also claimed that India's dependence on imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) had risen significantly over the past decade, increasing from around 45 per cent in 2014 to nearly 66 per cent in 2025.
Arora further referred to reports about a refinery investment in the United States involving Reliance Industries and cited remarks by former US president Donald Trump praising the investment.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.