Price rise gives BJP a headache

LUCKNOW: Anxious to contain the fallout of the rising prices of essential commodities under the NDA regime, the BJP has tasked its cadre in Uttar Pradesh to explain to the people that the ‘price hike’ was a result of bad policies of the UPA 2 government and would soon be ‘controlled.’

State BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai said people in the state had responded overwhelmingly to the party’s promise of hope and good governance.

“We had also promised to control price hike and the cadre needs to convey to the people that the party won’t let them down,” he said.

The BJP has already kickstarted its ‘Mission 2017’ by holding a series of agitations against the Samajwadi Party government.

However party strategists admit that ahead of the by-polls and assembly elections in several states, the BJP government at the centre will have to control prices of essential commodities or at least take the people into confidence about why the prices are going up still.

WE HAD ALSO PROMISED TO CONTROL PRICE HIKE AND THE CADRE NEEDS TO CONVEY TO THE PEOPLE THAT THE PARTY WON’T LET THEM DOWN... THE BJP GOVT WILL ATTEMPT TO CONTROL THE PRICE LAXMIKANT BAJPAI, state BJP chief

During his visit to his Lucknow constituency two days ago, union home minister Rajnath Singh had indicated the government was aware of the need to check prices though he had also hinted that assessing a government’s performance in a month’s time wasn’t fair.

Bajpai claimed that since the Modi government took charge, there had been a dip in the prices of pulses and some edible items. “You will soon see the BJP government making a visibly honest attempt to control price hike of other commodities,” he added.

Newly appointed general secretary (organization) Sunil Bansal too admitted that people had chosen the BJP with high hopes and retaining that confidence was the key.

“The BJP got 18 crore plus votes this time, which is 10 crore more than the last election. This shows the kind of response BJP received from one and all, especially the youths. Retaining their confidence is the key. We now need to turn voters into the party’s supporters,” he said.

State g eneral secretary Devendra Singh Chauhan said that the cadre needed to keep the BJP MPs and ministers informed about the public mood. “It’s important to take people into confidence about why and how of decisions that affects them. That’s why the cadre should play the interface between the people and the policymakers,” he said.