BJP demands Centre to convene CMs meet to discuss drought

BJP today demanded the UPA government at the Centre to convene a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the situation arising out of skyracketing prices of foodgrains and drought in various parts of the country.

The Centre should immediately convene a meeting of chief ministers to take stock of the situation and discuss measures to rein on spiraling prices of essential commodities, BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.

He said the consumer is battling with a perceived inflation rate ranging from 50 to 150 per cent. Even the price of salt has been increased by 10 per cent in less than three months, Naidu claimed.

 

The UPA government should come out with its action plan for alternative crops besides a contingency plan to control the price rise of essential commodities, he said.

With the rising prices of essential commodities and decline in goodgrains production, situation would further worsen if the govrnment failed to take timely action, he warned.

The party would launch a nation-wide agitation in the last week of this month against the spiraling prices of foodgrains, Naidu said.

As per the latest government data, the paddy crop across the country has fallen by 21 per cent to 114.63 lakh hectares compared with 145.21 lakh hectares last year, Naidu said.

Even production of pulses is estimated to be lower at 14.18 million tonnes in 2008-09, when compared with 14.76 million tonnes a year ago, he said.

He said his party would hold a three-day "Chintan Baitak" from August 17 and would chalk-out an agitational programme against the price rise.

Earlier, Naidu participated in a function organised on the occasion of "Rakhi Purnami" by party's state Mahila Morcha unit here.

BJP state unit chief Bandaru Dattatreya, party's National Secretary N Indrasena Reddy and General Secretary T Vijayalakshmi were among those who attended the function.