Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hits out at BJP, says ruling party does not allow House to function

Raking up the issue of onion price hike, Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not allowing the House to function properly alleging that the government does not want to face issues related to common people.

"Onion is being sold at the rate of Rs 130-150 per kilogram. The government has started its import. If it was done earlier, there would not be an issue like this today. Farmers get only Rs 9 per kilogram for their produce... When we tried to raise the issue of middlemen which is responsible for high onion prices, the ruling party members started shouting," Chowdhury told reporters here.

"The Ruling party does not allow House to function. Where will we go as the House is the place where we can put forward the issues related to common people? The government does not want to face those issues," he said.

Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha witnessed an uproar after question hour with Congress members raising the issue of the steep rise in prices of onions and BJP members asking MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to apologise for his remarks concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The din started soon after Chowdhury, Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha, raised the issue of price rise and said "markets were on fire". He said the price of onions had risen steeply and its price in the market was far more than the import price of the commodity. He claimed the price was selling at "Rs 130 per kg, Rs 140 per kg" and said that the government should apologize to people (on price rise of onion).

However, he was interrupted by BJP members who were seeking apology for his remarks pertaining to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said Chowdhury had made remarks against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman and added that he should be allowed to speak only after he apologises.

The BJP has been asking Chowdhury to apologise for calling Prime Minister and Home Minister "infiltrators" and demanded that he should withdraw his "nirbala" remarks about Sitharaman.