After beef, it’s dal (pulse) that is creating ripples in the Bihar election. On a day when Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Minister of Consumer Affairs Ram Vilas Paswan blamed the Bihar Government for soaring prices of pulses in the State, RJD supremo lalu Prasad tweeted, “Dal has become so costly that we no more can say — ghar ki murgi dal barabar.”
lalu’s tweet invited prompt repartee from senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. “Among the voters lalu ki dal nahi galegi,” he tweeted. In another tweet, Modi said, “Instead of writing lengthy letter to the Prime Minister listing his problems with the special package, why did Chief Minister Nitish Kumar not ask for monetary help from the `500-crore fund for subsidy on pulsesIJ By doing politics on dal, Nitish is politicking and ‘logon ki chhati par moong dal rahe hain.” The dal factor is indeed getting hotter. Both Singh and Paswan held the State Government responsible for soaring prices of pulses and accused it of politicising the issue. “The Bihar Government did not demand for pulses imported by the Centre. Absolutely, there is politics happening over the issue. The Centre has taken whatever possible steps to control the prices,” Paswan said.
Stating that about 4,000 tonnes of imported pulses have so far landed in the country, Paswan added, “You will be surprised to know that only Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have requested for it. There has not been any demand from the Bihar Government.” He said the supply and demand mismatch was the main reason for increase in prices and the black-marketers were taking advantage of it.
Not to be left behind in the dal politics, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back purane din (old days) of the people and hit back at the NDA Ministers for the rising prices of pulses. “I feel like laughing at Union Ministers blaming me for skyrocketing prices of pulses. If it was so, the price of pulses should have been `200 per kg only in Bihar...”Why it is selling at `200 per kg in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya PradeshIJ” Kumar wondered addressing an election rally at Nalanda, his home district.
Replying to the allegations of the Central Ministers, Bihar Minister of Consumer Protection Shyam Rajak said they were attempting to give cover to the black-marketers and the Centre was fully responsible for the price rise.
After quota controversy and beef row, dal is now likely to dominate the poll menu in Bihar.