Kya hua tera vada? Congress uses hit Bollywood song to target PM over inflation

The Congress on Monday attacked the Modi government over "skyrocketing" prices of food items, questioning the Prime Minister's silence on inflation and saying rising costs had hit household budgets hard. The party also used a reference to the 1977 Bollywood song 'Kya hua tera wada' to target the government.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a media report which claimed that rising prices of food items, along with pulses and cooking oil, had completely disrupted household budgets.

The Congress has been raising the issue of rising prices and accusing the government of following "anti-people" policies, while the government has rejected the charge and pointed to GDP numbers.

In a post in Hindi, Ramesh said, "The skyrocketing prices of food items in the country have broken the back of the middle and poor classes." He claimed that the prices of daily-use essential commodities were touching the skies and making life unbearable for the common person.

Ramesh said that in the past month, spice prices had risen by 10 per cent to 25 per cent. Green cardamom had gone up from Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,400 per kg, black cardamom from Rs 2,400 to Rs 2,800 per kg, and cumin from Rs 360 to Rs 400 per kg. He said mace prices had risen from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per kg, he said.

He also said arhar dal had increased from Rs 100 to Rs 130 per kg, chana dal from Rs 70 to Rs 100 per kg, and urad from Rs 120 to Rs 140 per kg. Mustard oil had risen from Rs 190 to Rs 210 per litre, while Safola oil had climbed from Rs 240 to Rs 280 per litre, he said.

From June to September, the all-India average retail price of onions rose from Rs 29.50 per kg to Rs 53.78 per kg, an increase of 82.3 per cent in three and a half months, Ramesh said. He said that because of rising inflation, pulses and essential food items were becoming out of reach for poor households.

"But the Prime Minister remains silent on inflation. The country is asking, 'Where have the 'achche din' gone, Prime Minister ji?' Are they only left in sermons?" Ramesh said.

He added, "The people go hungry, the government stays silent," and asked whether this was the new India.

Ramesh also said, "Kya hua tera wada? Woh kasam, woh irada?" in a reference to the lyrics of the popular song from the 1977 film Hum Kisise Kum Nahin. He said the Modi government should immediately take strict measures against what he called uncontrolled inflation and provide relief to the common people.