New Delhi: In a scathing attack on the government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said 12 years of “anti-poor” economic policies and a “compromised” foreign policy have pushed the country into such a dire situation that lakhs of poor families and women have been forced to bear the “poisonous smoke of firewood stoves”.

Gandhi’s criticism of the government came over its reduction of the number of subsidised refills of LPG gas cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

“Twelve years of anti-poor economic policies and a compromised foreign policy have today pushed the country into such a dire situation where lakhs of poor families and women have been forced to bear the poisonous smoke of firewood stoves,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.

“The number of subsidized cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme has been reduced from nine to four and on top of that, the price of domestic LPG cylinders has been increased by Rs 89 in the last 3 months — meaning, first hike the prices, then cut the subsidy, and snuff out the poor’s stove,” the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

The lifeline of migrant workers, the 5 kg cylinder, has also been made Rs 323 more expensive, he said and asked what will they earn, what will they eat, and what will they save.

“Arranging debt waivers worth lakhs-crores for billionaire friends and passing the bill of your failures onto the poor – this is Modi’s loot model,” Gandhi said.

“Mr. (Narendra) Modi, will only the poor bear the burden of your failures? Will only the workers, farmers, women, and middle class pay the price for this crumbling economy you’ve built?” the former Congress chief asked, attacking the PM.