BackBJP protests against government, price rise
Women’s wing of main opposition party holds nationwide protests, leaders warn of snap polls
Premium(Subhav Shukla/PTI)
New Delhi: The women’s wing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday held nationwide protests against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, with its top leaders warning of snap polls.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, reiterated that the incumbent government won’t last beyond the winter session and that a general election is round the corner. The next general election is due in 2014.
“Mamata Banerjee has pulled out of the government because of their (Congress) wrong economic policies and now other allies are also leaving them," she said at a rally organized by the BJP’s women wing at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress withdrew support from the UPA over policy changes such as easing overseas investment rules in retail and an increase in diesel prices.
The BJP held nationwide protests last month against inflation, corruption, foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, the increase in diesel prices and the capping of subsidized cooking gas cylinders.
Swaraj called on party members to work for the fall of the government.
“After this, our government will come back in power and you will get rid of corruption, inflation and price hike in diesel and petrol prices," she said.
The government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the most corrupt since independence, said Arun Jaitley, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
“When will this government fall? Nobody knows. In the coming general elections, people will tell them even votes don’t grow on trees," he said. Singh had employed the phrase “money doesn’t grow on trees" to justify the government’s policy changes.
BJP leaders said privatization had led to an increase in electricity prices.
Swaraj accused Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi of being insensitive to women trying to run households amid high prices.
“This government is raising prices frequently. Prices of petrol and diesel have doubled in UPA’s eight years in power," Swaraj said. “Now they have put a cap on subsidized cooking gas cylinders. A gas cylinder only lasts 15 days in a household. The Congress government is not responsible for inflation but at the same time (is) breaking all records on corruption."
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