Slogans against price hike rend city air

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 29: The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has registered its protest against the steep hike in prices of all essential commodities in the State, by staging a dhar near Dighalipukhuri in Guwahati.

The leaders of the farmers’ body came down heavily on both the Centre and the State Government for the post-poll hike in prices of essential commodities.

In the past few weeks, the prices of a large number of must items were hiked seemly for no rhymes and reasons even as the merchants keep on giving their own clarifications. If the merchants’ pretext of the recent heavy rains as the reason behind the abrupt hike in the prices is taken as genuine, how come the prices of various types of pulses and sugar that come to the State from outside go so high? The situation looks fishy with the BJP blaming it on the Congress government for looking the other way so as to let the merchants recover the big amount they had to provide to the Congress in the run-up to the election in the State from the market.

Meanwhile, people in large number from various walks of life and organizations took part in the protest staged by the KMSS today.

A section of KMSS leaders said: “During the recently-held Assembly election in the State the leaders of a number of parties made aerial visit to the State. However, when the state is in crisis because of floods and landslides they shy away from visiting the State. In the run-up to the Assembly election in the State, the BJP spoke of change and the Congress of development. Does the current hike in prices of all essential commodities in the State have anything to do with the promised ‘change’ and ‘development’? The parties took huge amounts of funds from merchants during the Assembly elections in the State. Now the party leaders have been on vacations abroad leaving the State and its people at the mercy of the merchants. It is hardly felt that there is a government at Dispur.”

The KMSS submitted a memorandum to the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, the Chief Secretary of the State and Commissioner-Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies demanding control over the prices of all essential commodities, including those of construction materials.