Sporting garlands of onion and brinjals around their necks and balancing pumpkins on their heads, activists of the Communist Party of India (CPI) staged a novel protest at the Collectorate on Monday demanding control of the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.
Addressing the protesters, CPI State assistant secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy said that even after 16 months after assuming power, the BJP-led NDA government had failed to control the prices of essential commodities. It has thrown a red carpet to the corporate entities in the name of industrial development and was further crippling the poor with high prices.
He said that already half of the nation’s population was suffering from malnutrition. He demanded action against forward trading of commodities and strengthening of the public distribution system besides initiating relief measures by the Centre in drought-hit areas.
CPI district secretary A.J. Stalin alleged that both BJP and TDP, which had promised to control the spiralling prices of essential commodities and strive for the uplift of the poor and weaker sections before the elections, had forgotten their promises after the elections.
Stir threat
He warned that united struggles would be organised along with other Opposition parties, if the government failed to control the prices of essential commodities and strengthen the public distribution system.
