SP takes out 'jan hith morcha' at Azad Maidan

Mumbai, June 17: The Samajwadi Party (SP) today took out a rally at Azad Maidan to protest against the Centre as well as the state government's policies, especially the hike in oil prices and skyrocketing of prices of vegetables, sugar and edible oil.

Addressing the rally SP Rajya Sabha member and its Mumbai unit president Abu Asim Azmi said, ''The middle class and poor class people of India are being forced to undergo hardships and misery everyday at the hands of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi.'' Mr Azmi said air travel is becoming cheaper and riding scooters has become unaffordable. Fine dining in five star hotels is cheaper due to concessions grated in VAT (Value Added Tax), however, at the same time, for the poor people, the prices of wheat, sugar, vegetable oils have reached an all time high, he added.

Mr Azmi came down heavily on the state government saying earlier we used to find malnutrition deaths in the backward areas of Ghadchiroli, Chikaldhara or Jawhar, but now we can find them in the suburbs of Mumbai also.

The impending collapse of the stock market and real estate prices will soon fuel a suicidal onslaught by the urban middle class, who may be forced to become unfortunate defaulters of their personal and housing loans, he added.

Addressing the rally, MP Mohan Singh asked the Maharashtra government to take a leaf out of the Uttar Pradesh government, which had launched a scheme for the benefit of eight lakh unemployed people in the state by granting them a monthly allowance of Rs 500.

UNI