4 min readMar 26, 2026 02:39 PM IST
First published on: Mar 26, 2026 at 02:39 PM IST
At an all-party meeting on the West Asia crisis on Wednesday, the government received support from an MP of INDIA bloc ally IUML who “appreciated its efforts” in handling the impact on India, especially the LPG crisis. This came even as other Opposition parties questioned the government’s strategy, sources said.
According to sources, Rajya Sabha MP P V Abdul Wahab endorsed the steps taken by the government. While cautioning that panic should not be created over the LPG shortage issue and that the government should be supported for its efforts to deal with the situation, Wahab did not criticise the government on several other matters raised by the fellow Opposition leaders.
“Energy crisis is an issue which the government is taking efforts to deal with. Panicking will not help. I said it because we have to be concerned about the estimated 1 crore Indians living in that region. We cannot take any steps that could hurt their interests. The government said both the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister are talking to all stakeholders on a daily basis,” Wahab told The Indian Express.
The government had convened the all-party meeting to discuss the West Asia conflict and the government’s response.
“The government said what we are seeing as an LPG crisis is because of hoarding. We were told that there is a reserve for 60 days and that there is no crisis,” Wahab said.
While Wahab’s support was a “pleasant surprise” for the government, it took several Opposition leaders by surprise. According to one such leader, the IUML MP was “quiet … and when he spoke he said we should not create panic. And that our people are there and we should not do anything that forces them to come back.” Another leader said there was no reference to the Palestine issue either in the IUML leader’s intervention. The IUML is a key constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, which goes to polls on April 9.
In the meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, several Opposition leaders criticised the government’d foreign policy approach, including its silence on the US attack on Iran, the timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s February visit to Israel, and the lack of condemnation in strong terms of the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Rejecting the government’s argument that there is no LPG crisis, Opposition leaders pointed out that the strategic reserve is not for LPG and that the country still needs import.
Although Congress leader Tariq Anwar termed the meeting “unsatisfactory” as the government did not accept the Opposition’s primary demand for a debate in both the Houses on the West Asia conflict, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government provided detailed clarification on key issues, including the country’s preparedness to deal with the disruptions in oil and gas supply routes.
“The government has addressed all the concerns. There were six Muslim leaders in the meeting: Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Abdul Wahab, Sarfaraz Ahmad (JMM), Mian Altaf Ahmad (National Conference), Javed Ali Khan (SP) and Tariq Anwar (Congress) and we have responded to all the issues they raised. The government has told the Opposition that there is hoarding happening and there is an overbooking because of the panic. One must not forget that the number of households that use LPG has gone up from 14 crore in 2009 to 34 crore. Eighty percent of our LPG comes from Qatar,” said a government source.