The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday blamed an alleged nexus between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and hoarders for the sharp increase in onion prices and asked the Centre Government why it was not taking steps to reduce the inflation.
AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also asked the Centre the reason behind selling onion to Delhi Government at a higher rate when NAFED has proposed a subsidised price.
“‘Delhi Government was selling onion to the people of Delhi at Rs 23.90 per kg. But to stop this, the Central Government increased the rate of onion from Rs 15 per kg to Rs 60 per kg, while 32,000 tonnes of onion rotted away in the Government godowns. BJP-led Central Government is responsible for the paucity of onion that happens every year,” Singh said. Questioning the Central Government, he asked why Delhi Government is selling onion at Rs 60 per kg while the onion stock is rotting away in the godowns.
Stressing on this, Singh added, ‘When a farmer goes to sell his onion in the market, he gets the price Rs 2 to Rs 3 pe kg for his produce. The hoarders and black marketeers buy onion at this price, hoard the stock and later sell it at a premium price of Rs 100 per kg when the onion stock goes down in the market. This is possible only because the black marketeers get support from the BJP-led Central Government.’
“When there’s a need to stock up the extra onion available in the market, the Central Government prefers exporting it. And when this leads to shortage of onion in the domestic market, it directly benefits the black marketeers and hoarders. This system is conveniently being run together by the Central Government and the black marketeers,” said Singh. Struggling to cool prices amid a soaring demand, the AAP Govt has sought Centre’s help to make onions available at subsidised rates. The Delhi Government has claimed that NAFED has proposed to sell onions at Rs 60 per kg in the city.