Having paid the price by losing power in the national Capital 15 years ago over the onion issue, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj is all set to take on the Congress-led Delhi Government over the same issue. Swaraj, currently the leader of Opposition in lok Sabha, will be holding 100 public meetings across 70 constituencies in the Capital with spiralling onion price as its top agenda. It was Swaraj heading the BJP-led Delhi Government in 1998, when the price of the edible bulb soared to Rs 60 per kilo inviting sharp criticism from all quarters, which also became the prime reason for BJP’s defeat in the subsequent polls.
The Chief Ministerial candidate from BJP or the Assembly polls, Dr Harsh Vardhan said the former Chief Minister has agreed to campaign extensively in the Capital on wide-ranging issues, including the high prices of onion, potatoes and tomatoes. “Sushmaji has promised me that she will hold at least 100 public meetings in the city. It will be a great advantage for the party in the crucial elections, particularly when Delhiites are reeling under high food inflation,” he said. Vardhan had on Wednesday met Sushma Swaraj at her residence soon after being anointed Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi polls.
Earlier on Thursday, former BJP president and Delhi BJP in-charge Nitin Gadkari too had said that soaring onion prices would play a key role deciding the results of the December 4 polls. “With the Government failing miserably to curb the ever-increasing onion price, it will definitely bring tears to the Congress party in Delhi,” he said.
A senior Delhi BJP leader too expressed confidence that the onion prices would make the Congress pay the price politically. “We had faced the consequences of onion price rise once and it is time for the Congress to pay the price politically. The skyrocketing onion prices have burnt a hole in the pockets of common man. In 1998, onion price in Delhi went up to Rs 60 per kilo for a few days but now the onion price is constantly above Rs 80 per kilo. The ‘politically sensitive’ onions will bring more tears to the Congress Government in Delhi as well as the embattled UPA Government in Centre,” he added.