BJP raps Delhi government on price rise issue

BJP today rapped the Delhi government on the price rise front alleging that it has failed to control escalating prices of essential commodities.

Participating in a discussion in the assembly, senior BJP MLA Jagdish Mukhi alleged that price rise was due to "political corruption" and government giving permission for futures trading.

"There is a lack of will power on part of the government to tackle the issue. The prime minister is saying states are to be blamed. In Delhi, Congress is in power. Then can we say that Congress government in Delhi has failed to control prices," Mukhi said.

He also claimed that chief minister Sheila Dikshit is blaming the Centre for the price rise situation. "We are asking whom should we believe?" Mukhi asked. 

Several BJP MLAs who participated in the debate accused the government of not doing enough to control prices. 

Replying to the debate, food and civil supplies minister Harun Yusuf admitted that there was corruption in Public Distribution System.

He said there were no takers for 18,000 biometric PDS cards prepared by the Department. It seems there were around 18,000 cards which were created bogus, he said.

He also said the government had opened shops to sell pulses as part of its efforts to contain prices of essential commodities.