Over one day the prices of cooking gas cylinders across all categories hiked by INR 25 ($0.34) per cylinder in India, with opposition parties slamming the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for its failure to protect the interests of the common person.
The hike in gas prices is the third straight increase in rates in less than two months.
The country's main opposition party Congress used a hashtag "#IndiaAgainstBJPLoot" on social media.
Addressing a press conference on the issue of steadily increasing prices of commodities, Congress parliamentarian and former party chief Rahul Gandhi took a swipe on Prime Minister Modi.
"When the PM says GDP has risen in the country, he actually means Gas, Diesel and Petrol," said Rahul Gandhi.
Another opposition party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), launched a scathing attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) policies.
The TMC head and West Bengal State Chief Mamata Banerjee termed the increase in cooking gas rates as "unpardonable and unacceptable". She has demanded Prime Minister Modi's direct and immediate intervention to check the rise in rates.
The federal government has not only come under attack from the opposition, but also some of its allies after petroleum companies announced the gas prices.
The BJP's coalition partner Janata Dal United (JD-U) has reminded the government that the financial pressure on households amid the COVID pandemic is already quite high.
"As a friendly party, we want to suggest to the government that recent increase in prices should be rolled back because there are assembly elections scheduled in many states in the coming months. Our political opponents could use this as a weapon against us in these polls", JDU Chief General Secretary K.C. Tyagi told the news channel NDTV.