NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday slammed the central government on the sky-rocketing prices of onion in the Capital.
Speaking to reporters, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, "There’s a nexus between the BJP and black marketeers and hoarders. It is this unholy nexus, which is responsible for the rising onion prices in the country. Our government was selling onions at Rs 23.90 per kg at fair price shops. To stop this, the central government increased the wholesale price of onion from Rs 15 per kg to Rs 60 per kg. It was unmoved as 32,000 tonnes of onion rotted away at government godowns," Singh said.
Over the last few days, the going rate of onions in several parts of the city has been between Rs 80 and Rs 100 per kg. While the AAP is wary of the issue resulting in public anger just months ahead of the Assembly polls, the Opposition is keen to cash in on it.
Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had accused the Centre of stopping supply of onions at subsidised rates in the city. The BJP hit back, with MPs Vijay Goel and Meenakshi Lekhi holding a protest on Friday demanding that the Delhi government stop exploiting the issue for political advantage and reduce onion prices at the earliest.
On Thursday, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain wrote to Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, seeking his intervention in ensuring steady supply of onions from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India. "When a farmer goes to sell his onion produce to the market he is paid Rs 2 to Rs 3 for every kilogram. Hoarders and black marketeers buy the produce at this price and later release it a premium rate of Rs 100 per kg," Singh alleged.