On Sonia Gandhi’s birthday, Puducherry CM distributes onions

mangaloretoday/ yahoo

Puducherry, Dec 09: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy distributing onions to party workers on Monday.

In a symbolic dig at the Centre over soaring onion prices, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Monday gifted 1 kg of onions each to party workers to celebrate Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s 73rd birthday.

The prices of onion have skyrocketed across the country, caused by a delay in the arrival of new crop and damage to the harvested crop in the main onion-growing states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The bulb was being sold at Rs 200 per kg in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai on Sunday.

In a video shared on his Twitter handle, Narayanasamy is seen distributing packets of onion to the party’s women workers. He also distributed food to people at his residence.

In another tweet, the chief minister is seen offering prayers at a temple for the long life of Congress chief, saying that "she has made immense sacrifices for the country".

"Puducherry celebrating Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s 73rd Birthday. Prayers in temple, mosque, church and helping poor. The kind of sacrifice madam made to save our nation is immense. I pray God to give strength for Madam who is torch bearer for our nation and party to live long," he said in the tweet.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also criticised the Centre over the issue of price rise, alleging that the BJP government seems to be "in a mood to sleep".

The Centre is facing flak over the rising prices of onion across the country, with the issue being discussed in Lok Sabha as well. The price of Onion was at around Rs 124/kg in Mumbai, Rs 140/kg in Kolkata and around nearly Rs 100/kg in Delhi on Saturday, as per the ministry’s latest data.

To boost supply and contain price rise, the government has approved the import of over 21,000 tonnes of onions through state-run MMTC and the shipments are expected to arrive mid-January. The tender and fumigation norms have also been eased to facilitate early arrival of imported onions.