Delhi BJP leaders protest outside CM's residence over onion prices hike

Sensing an opportunity to use rising onion prices to its advantage ahead of the assembly elections, Delhi BJP on Wednesday held a demonstration outside Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence here, accusing her of failing to control the spiralling rates.

Senior BJP leaders including Delhi unit chief Vijay Goel, Harsh Vardhan and Arti Mehra, setting aside their differences, led the demonstration and slammed Dikshit for "unabated" rise in price of onion which is selling at Rs 70-80 per kg in retail market.

Incidentally, the BJP was voted out of power in 1998 in Delhi following spiralling onion prices. The assembly polls in Delhi are slated for November.

"The Congress government has failed to ensure adequate supply and distribution of onion and all the other vegetables in the city causing great distress to each and every household of Delhi.

The onion prices have been on the rise and Delhi Government has not done anything to check the rates," Goel said.

Onions, a key ingredient in many Indian dishes, is selling at Rs 70-80 a kg in most areas of the city.

Last week, Delhi government had started selling the vegetable at "reasonable" rates at 350 outlets including 280 Mother Dairy outlets.

These outlets are selling the vegetable at around Rs 52 per kg.

The BJP protesters, carrying onions in bags, raised slogans against the Chief Minister for "letting the prices break new records every day in the city."

Goel said BJP will continue to protest against the rising price.

"We will stage protest by wall-writing, street plays and procession in every nook and corner of the capital," he said.

Concerned over the rising prices of onion, Dikshit had yesterday asked Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to curtail export of the vegetable to stabilise its rate.

Addressing the gathering, Vardhan said all the wholesale vegetable and fruit markets in the city are controlled by the city government but it has done nothing to improve supply.

"The wholesale markets in Delhi are governed by the government but it has done nothing to ensure enough supply of onions. This is an insensitive government which is not bothered about the hardships faced by the common people.

The people of Delhi are fed up with the complete absence of governance," he said.

In her address, former Delhi Mayor Mehra said also slammed Dikshit and demanded immediate steps to improve supply of onions in the city.

"It is estimated that an average household budget in Delhi has gone up by 40 per cent during the past one year itself. The onions are now proving to be proverbial last straw on the camel's back," she said.

In the wholesale market of Lasalgaon (Nashik), Asia's largest onion mandi, prices rose by Rs 1 to Rs 46 per kg.

At Azadpur mandi in Delhi, rates increased by Rs 5 to Rs 50-55 per kg, Onion Merchant Traders Association Surendra Budhiraj said He added that supplies, which come from Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, were normal today at 12,000 quintals.