NEW DELHI: With the retail prices of onion in the national capital going through the roof, the opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have accused the Delhi government of not acting against hoarders.
Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra said on Thursday that prices of not only onion but other vegetables and essential commodities had also soared and the Arvind Kejriwal government had completely failed to rein in hoarders.
“Hoarders have created an artificial shortage with the blessings of the BJP and AAP governments though godowns are full of onions. Both the political parties are hand in glove with the stashers. They are unmoved by the plight of the people,” Chopra said during a protest organised outside the Delhi secretariat against the rising prices of onion.
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Congress workers and senior party leaders, including spokesperson Sharmishtha Mukherjee and former Delhi ministers, participated in the demonstration. The Congress leader also appealed to the people of Delhi to vote out the AAP government in Delhi, which couldn’t control prices.
The BJP lost power in Delhi in the 1998 assembly elections after onion prices had skyrocketed, and it has failed to come to power again. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that if the Delhi government had used the Price Stabilization Fund, the price of onion might not have increased.
“The Central government had cautioned the Delhi government about the onion crisis in September itself, but Chief Minister Kejriwal disregarded public interest and kept accusing others. The price of onion has increased by 45 per cent during the last one week in Delhi,” he said.
The BJP alleged that the government was encouraging black marketeers. “The government had promised to sell onion and tomatoes at subsidised rates, but nobody found government vehicles distributing those kitchen essentials. The Kejriwal government has failed to control the price rise,” Tiwari said.