BHUBANESWAR: The BJD has decided to organise a massive demonstration in front of the Lok Seva Bhawan here on January 6 to protest failure of the BJP government in checking price rise of essential commodities.
Announcing this at a media conference here on Friday, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik along with senior BJD leaders Debi Prasad Mishra and Sanjay Dasburma said skyrocketing prices of essential commodities has crippled the lives of the poor and middle class families.
“The rising prices have severely affected the common people, especially those in villages. Food inflation has soared to 9.4 per cent. The increase in prices of fuel, edible oil and essential items has harmed the budget of every household,” Mishra said.
Mallik said women are facing serious difficulties in managing household budgets due to the rising costs of everyday essentials. Dasburma said that the BJD will also organise demonstrations in all the 30 districts against price rise during this month.
Terming the protest by the BJD as another drama, BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal countered that Odisha had the highest inflation of 7.1 per cent in April last year when Naveen Patnaik was the chief minister. Inflation has now come down to 6.7 per cent under BJP rule, he said.
Referring to BJD’s attack on the high prices of potatoes and onion, Biswal asked why their government in its 24-year rule did not take any step to improve the production of potato in the state. “The BJP government has made provisions in the budget for improving production and reducing dependence on other states,” he said.