After tomatoes, prices of other vegetables too increase; Kharge targets Centre

Many states are reporting an increase in the price of vegetables and other essential commodities, with tomatoes and chillies recording over 200 pc over the last fortnight.

While retail tomato prices have shot up to Rs 155 per kg across major cities, the prices of chillies have also skyrocketed. While chillies cost Rs 150 per kg a week ago, the price now is Rs 300-Rs 350 in many parts of the country. Other veggies have witnessed a 30-50% price rise. 

Tomatoes cost ₹129 per kg on Wednesday in Delhi while it soared to ₹150 per kg in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad. The prices of brinjal and cauliflower have also increased.

While the price hike is mainly attributed to the supply disruption caused due to rain in the producing region, Congress has blamed the BJP for the crisis and demanded immediate steps from his government to address the issue.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said people will not buy into the "hollow slogans" of the BJP and will wipe it out of power this time. "Both inflation and unemployment are increasing continuously due to the loot of the Modi government. But the BJP is engrossed in the greed for power," Kharge alleged in a tweet in Hindi.

The prices of vegetables are skyrocketing and the unemployment rate in the country has gone up to 8.45 per cent, he said. The unemployment rate in villages is 8.73 per cent and the demand for MGNREGA in villages is at its peak, but there is no work, Kharge said.

The rural wage rate has come down, he added.

"Narendra Modi ji, the people of the country know that before elections, you are working on slogans like 'achche din', 'amrit kaal', so that your failures can be glossed over with the help of advertisements. But this time it will not happen, the public is aware and will answer to your hollow slogans by voting against the BJP," the Congress chief said.

"Leave alone forgiving, the public will wipe the BJP out of power," Kharge asserted.

The government has maintained that the current spike in tomato prices is a seasonal phenomenon, and around this time, prices generally remain high. The prices are expected to cool down in the next 15 days and normalise in a month.