Pune: In a scathing attack, BJP president Nitin
Gadkari on Tuesday night directly targeted Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Agriculture
Minister Sharad Pawar as being responsible for rising prices
of foodgrains which he said was "crushing the common man".
Addressing a public meeting here, Gadkari criticised
Singh saying it was regrettable that the current situation on
the price front was prevailing despite the country having an
economist Prime Minister of his calibre.
"The current situation is the outcome of wrong economic
policies of the Congress-led UPA government. When non-Congress
governments of Janata Party and NDA were at the helm the
country had never experienced such inflation and price rise",
Gadkari said in his speech after being felicitated by the city
party unit here.
On galloping sugar prices, Gadkari claimed that Pawar's
decision to export 48 lakh tonne of sugar during the last two
years at a cheap price and current imports at a very high rate
was also responsible for the hike.
Quoting statistics of the commodity exchange, he
alleged that speculators and MNC corporates manipulated the
situation to their advantage leaving the farmers high and dry
in the foodgrain trading in the country.
The BJP president also warned that the country's
internal and external security was "in danger" because of a
"weak Centre" and alleged that terrorists were being appeased
by the UPA.
"Afzul Guru who attacked the Parliament is still
evading the noose," he added.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 00:04