Central government involved in big onion scam: AAP MP Sanjay Singh

AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday said that the central government is involved in a big onion scam.

Singh, wearing a garland of onions, raised slogans in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Parliament premises against rising onion prices.

"There is a big scam related to onions. The central government is saying that 32 thousand metric tonnes of onion have decayed. The Delhi government had demanded 10 trucks of onion every day till December 9. From November 23, our onion supply was stalled by the central government," Singh told ANI.

"The central government on September 5 had said that they had 56 thousand metric tonnes of onion. Then how did 32 thousand tonnes of onion decay? Why did the government not make available those onions at a lower price? They can let the onions decay but not make them available to the public," he added.

Earlier, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on December 1 accused the Centre of intentionally creating a scarcity of onions in the city-state.

"When the onion prices started to rise, on September 5 the Centre wrote to Delhi government that they had 56,000 metric tonne stock of onions and asked the Delhi government to procure onions as required," he said.

"Soon, the Delhi government intimated the Central government that it would procure and distribute 10 trucks of onions, that is, 2.5 lakh kilos at a subsidised price in Delhi every day so that the hoarding of onions could be stopped," he said.

Sisodia further said: "I want to ask the Central government why has it stopped the provision of onions to the Delhi government. Where is the stock of onions that the Union Government claimed in writing on September 5? Why has the Union government allowed huge onion stocks to rot away?"

The price of onions has shot up in other parts of the country as well.

Earlier on November 20, the Union Cabinet approved the import of 1.2 lakh metric tonnes of onion in view of the high prices of the essential commodity in the market.

"The Cabinet has given its approval to the import of 1.2 lakh metric tonnes of onion," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told reporters after the meeting of the Union Cabinet.