Bhopal Member of Parliament Pragya Thakur has come up with another contentious remark, saying that fuel price rise was nothing but Congress mindset and its propaganda.
Thakur’s remarks came at a programme organised in Bhopal to inaugurate a municipal corporation pump house and a fleet of new mini buses for local public transport, by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. “This propaganda by these people (Congress) that petrol is expensive, diesel is expensive; this is nothing but the mindset of Congress and worthless propaganda,” said Thakur, who is known for her controversial remarks.
The statement comes at a time when petrol prices have crossed Rs 112 per litre in most of the districts in Madhya Pradesh and diesel prices have crossed Rs 100 per litre in some districts. In Shahdol district, petrol was being sold at Rs 112.57 and diesel at Rs 110.18 per litre – the highest in the state, according to sources. The video clipping of Thakur’s statement has gone viral and the Congress has taken potshots at her and the BJP for the recent controversial comments of the ruling party’s leaders with respect to the Congress.
Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja referred to earlier statements of BJP leaders, too, in a tweet: ‘Congress responsible for floods? Nehru ji’s speech responsible for price rise? Go to Afghanistan if you have a problem with price rise..and now MP Pragya Thakur is saying that price rise is nothing but Congress mindset and propaganda. All of them should be sent to a mental hospital at the earliest.”
Earlier this month, ex-Assembly speaker Rameshwar Sharma had commented that Congress’s failure on the river linking project and related policies was responsible for floods. In a separate statement, Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang had said that the speech of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru made on the Independence Day of the country (in 1947) was responsible for price rise. In another instance, BJP district president of Katni, Ramratan Payal, had said those who had problem with expensive fuel should go to Afghanistan as petrol will be available there at Rs 50 per litre and no one was purchasing it after Taliban takeover.