Hundreds of Congress supporters and leaders on Wednesday protested here against the hike in the rates of essential commodities and slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not fulfilling the promises he had made to the people before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.Senior Congress leader Raj Babbar who led the march said, "Modi ji has been spending all his time outside the country. He does not care about the problems people are facing here due to price hike." "He has failed to provide jobs to the youth which he had promised before elections," Babar, who is the Congress head for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections coming up next year, said here.Senior leaders, including Randeep Surjewala, also took part in the protest during which Congress supporters tried to march towards the Parliament House, breaking the barriers that the policemen had put up on roads.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI) members also took part in the demonstration and demanded that the prices of vegetables and other groceries should be brought down."The prices of all essential commodities have gone up drastically in this government. People are suffering and Modi ji is not concerned," a protester said. Earlier in the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, Congress President Sonia Gandhi also took up the issue of rising inflation of commodities, especially of food items. "The Modi government's hollow claims on inflation have been exposed recently by no less a person than the Reserve Bank Governor. Their inaction in helping farmers affected by the acute drought, despite the Supreme Court's intervention, is deplorable. The widespread distress in rural areas seems to be of no concern to the Modi government," she added.