The Cabinet decision on Thursday to raise urea prices by 10 per cent and allow the industry to fix the prices of other fertilisers has given the principal Opposition party, the BJP, a shot in the arm.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is up in arms against the price rise, strongly criticised the Cabinet decision. Senior BJP leader L K Advani termed the decision as anti farmer. Similarly, BJP-ruled states deplored the Centre’s move and called for its immediate withdrawal.
The decision, which would take effect from April 1, is expected to help the government reduce its fertiliser subsidy bill by Rs 50,000 crore in this year.
At the concluding session of a two-day national council meeting of the party here, Advani said, “The Centre has meted injustice towards farmers at a time when food inflation is quite high.”
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Chouhan led a scathing attack against the Centre, and said the decision on fertilisers would create further hardships for farmers. He was quite categorical that the Centre should withdraw the urea price rise at the earliest and made a strong pitch for the development of special agriculture zones.
B S Yeddyurappa, chief minister of Karnataka, said, “As far as hike in urea price is concerned, it is a draconian move and farmers will be at loss.” He held the Centre responsible for the burgeoning inflation and alleged it was due to the Centre’s badly managed fiscal policies.
According to Yashwant Sinha, BJP leader and former finance minister, the murderous price rise is the single most important issue in India today. A resolution moved by him said: “While price rise no doubt is the single most important issue today, there are other major areas of concern in the economy also. All the present ills of the economy, including the unbearable price rise, are the result of the UPA government’s mismanagement.”
The BJP, according to him, believes the most important reason for this price rise, apart from incompetence and lack of leadership in the government, is the rampant corruption at all levels. “Members of the Cabinet have made money through futures trading in the commodity markets. Out of a total transaction of Rs 4.50 lakh in the commodity exchanges, only 1 per cent resulted in delivery, the rest was pure speculation,” he said.
