BJP sharpens arguments to counter Oppn attacks on rising prices

Rising inflation, especially the prices of food items, has consistently been a crucial election issue in India. In the 1970s when the Janata Party was in power at Centre, Indira Gandhi toured across the country with a garland of onions around her neck to garner public support against the exorbitant rise in onion prices. In the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, she turned it into a major issue and won the polls to become the Prime Minister again. Despite the support garnered by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the successful nuclear test in Pokhran in 1998, the BJP had to face defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections due to the increasing onion prices. Since then, the BJP has not been able to win the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections. This is the reason why the BJP has started preparing strategies to counter the opposition parties on the issue of inflation. A BJP leader said that the party leaders will “expose” the opposition parties’ attempt to spread “misinformation” about inflation on every platform. Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has repeatedly claimed that the Congress is responsible for the higher prices of petrol and diesel due to the burden of oil bonds issued during UPA government’s tenure.