GUWAHATI: After the Assam Congress, now it is the turn of the regional Assam Jatiya Parishad to pull the incumbent BJP government down for its alleged “failure to regulate the prices of essential commodities.”
Addressing reporters here on Thursday, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi slammed the saffron party over the steep rates of essential edibles besides fuel, LPG and power, a situation which the party claims, “is just contrary to what the Sonowal government had pledged in poll rallies before coming to power in 2016.”
“So the BJP government had only deceived the people by making slogans five years back to regulate the rates of essentials, based on which the electorate bestowed their faith and gave their mandate to the saffron party,” Gogoi said on a day when the Union home minister was here to address two rallies in Nagaon and Karbi Anglong.
“Contrary to the slogans, the prices of essentials have increased two to three fold over the past five years…The price of rice has increased from Rs 25 per kg in 2016 to Rs 45 in 2021, which is an 80 percent increase. The price of dal has increased from Rs 45 per kg in 2016 to Rs 88 per kg, which is a rise by 95.56 percent,” he said.
“Then again, a litre of mustard oil has increased from Rs 90 in 2016 to Rs 160 in 2021, onions from Rs 20 to Rs 40/45 per kg during the period, potatoes from Rs 22 to Rs 32 per kg during the period, petrol from Rs 60 to Rs 87.51 per litre; diesel from Rs 52.94 then to Rs 81.75 per litre now,” the AJP president informed.
“Rates of construction material like sand, stone chips and cement, et al, have skyrocketed..so have the power tariffs,” he said.
The AJP leader further alleged that the steep increase in the prices of essential commodities is a reflection the “misrule and anti-people policies” of the BJP government”
“Now, the economically disadvantaged people in the state have to buy onions at whopping Rs 45/Rs 50 per kg…this at a time when they are distributed free rice”, which Gogoi said was rather incongruous.
He further alleged that “before an election, the government allows traders and industrialists especially in the construction sector to increase prices in lieu of donations…there is a secret understanding…besides sections allege that the incumbent party is allowing syndicates to flourish”.
Activists and members of the Kamrup Metropolitan district committee of AJP also staged a protest rally, shouting slogans and holding placards against the steep rise in prices of essentials in the city on Thursday.