A day after the Pradesh Congress Committee formally announced its plans for the State as part of the nation-wide bandh on Monday against price rise, the Bharatiya Janata Party State unit accused the Congress of making baseless allegations without considering either facts or the price of petrol-diesel during the tenure of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. The BJP State spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan said that the nation-wide bandh called by the Congress would turn out to be a flop.
Addressing the media at the BJP State office, MLA and party state spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan said that the Congress was wrongly projecting rise in petrol-diesel rates as price rise. He said, “For a large proportion of the Indian population price rise means a hike in the cost of food.
The Congress led UPA Government at the Centre under its economist prime minister had left the nation with a 13.7 per cent food inflation and 12. 17 per cent overall inflation in 2013-14. Today, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the overall inflation is down to 4.17 per cent while the food inflation is down to 1.37 per cent. Even in such a scenario, the Congress is making it appear as if people survive on petrol-diesel instead of food.”
He, further, said that the Congress was raising hue and cry over the hike in petrol-diesel price as if that and the currency exchange rate alone were accurate measurements of the state of the nation’s economy. He said, “The BJP is ready to debate with any economics expert from the Congress on these issues.
At a time when the GDP of the nation has registered a considerable growth, it is illogical to cite only the fuel price hike and devaluation of the rupee as a sign of poor state of the economy. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reduced petroleum production which has also increased the cost for India which imports about 80 per cent of its petroleum products.
While criticising the BJP for the recent hike in fuel prices, the Congress seems to have forgotten that during the tenure of the UPA in September 2013, the price of petrol had reached a high of Rs 82.87 per litre.” The BJP State spokesman further referred to the execution of various Central Government developmental schemes. He said that five crore LPG connections had been provided under the Ujjwala Yojana. The Janani Suraksha Yojana aimed at reducing mother-child mortality rates is now being implemented in 650 districts of India while it was being implemented in only 50 districts during 10 years of UPA government. A large number of citizens will also benefit from the ambitious Ayushman Bharat Yojana, he added.