Congress leaders claim the rising price of onions is due to hoarding by pro-BJP traders. Renu Mittal reports
With Assembly elections in four important states just around the corner and prices of onions touching Rs 100 a kilo, the Congress party has asked the government to take urgent steps to bring down the prices. The government has called a meeting on Wednesday to take stock of the situation.
People have not forgotten that the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi government headed by Sushma Swaraj was voted out of power when onion prices touched Rs 60 and since then the BJP has not been able to make a comeback in Delhi.
But the Congress now is trying to win a fourth term in Delhi with prices of onions touching Rs 100.
The blame game has begun in New Delhi. One of the proposals before the government is to ban the export of onions and begin imports to flood the market and bring down the prices. The details of this would be worked out once senior ministers take a call on how the issue will be resolved.
The Congress spokesman blamed hoarding as the reason for the increase in prices. Party leaders claim it is a conspiracy by big traders who are known to be pro-BJP.
A senior Congress leader alleged that some traders have paid money for the entire stock of onions that has not even been harvested but with the specific instructions that the onions are not to be moved out till the buyers give a go-ahead. The example is from Alvar in Rajasthan.
A section of the Congress party and the government are blaming Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, very influential in Maharashtra, particularly Nasik, the biggest onion mandi in India.
