Delhi BJP slams govt for spiralling prices

New Delhi, Apr 12 (UNI) Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan today accused the Shiela Dikshit government of being hand in glove with hoarders, as it was ''helping them'' by giving advance information about its plans to conduct raids on them.

He said had the government been really serious about apprehending the hoarders, then it should have gone ahead, without giving them any prior information.

The government had raided various rice and edible oil godowns yesterday as part of a special drive to crack down on hoarding and profiteering in the capital.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf, had warned the traders of strict action, saying that they may even face arrest for not complying with government orders.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, ''Surprise raids would have caught them unawares and a message would have gone across that the government was taking stern steps to curb price spiral. The goods hoarded by them would have come in the open market and their cost would have come down.'' He said the price rise has been continuing for the last three years but this year it has broken all the records.

Leader of Opposition Dr Jagdish Mukhi expressed regret that in the regime of ''economist'' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the inflation rate was increasing every week.

He also ridiculed Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and Union Minister Kapil Sibal for saying that price rise was a global phenomena and that prices were bound to rise with a heightened pace of growth and blamed ''political corruption'' for the spiralling prices.

UNI MMG SP AS2002