What happened
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge attacked the Narendra Modi government over rising prices of essential commodities. Kharge said the BJP’s “achche din” promise has instead strained household budgets, with particular emphasis on food inflation and the cost of everyday cooking.
Kharge listed examples of high prices for staples such as onions, sugar, mustard oil, and other items, and also cited inflation figures in his post on X:
Food inflation: 5.52% (as stated by Mallikarjun Kharge)Wholesale inflation: 9.78% (as stated by Mallikarjun Kharge)
Background and earlier position
Kharge’s argument frames rising pressure on household finances as persisting across time and across different categories of essential foods. Kharge linked this pressure to lentils, vegetables, and oils or sugar and presented these as recurring examples in criticism of the government’s inflation and cost-of-living performance.
Related current affairs
- Government starts calibrated release of onion buffer stocks via Kanda Express and road transport to major consumption centres
- Current sugar price hike: short-term factors vs long-term trend
- Government measures to curb sugar price rise and ensure availability ahead of festive season
- A predictable rise
- Retail inflation hits 19-month high of 4.45% in July
- Breaching the target