INDORE: Madhya Pradesh panchyat and rural development minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia on Sunday said that people should not complain about inflation, and rather accept it, as ‘incomes have gone up’.
Talking to reporters in Indore, Sisodia said, “I’ll be very practical with you on this. Your question is correct. Hasn’t the income of the common man increased in these past years? If income has risen and it is acceptable to us, then a little bit of inflation should also be acceptable.”
Sisodia pressed on with his argument. “The government cannot give everything for free. This is where the government gets its revenues. All development and other schemes run like this,” the minister said .
Sisodia’s comment triggered a barrage of questions on skyrocketing fuel prices. The minister said, “If you were earning Rs6,000 ten years ago and are now drawing Rs50,000, but want petrol and diesel at the same rate as back then, this is just not possible at all.”
“I ask you, which section has not seen a rise in income? Employees who used to get Rs5,000, aren’t they getting Rs25-30,000? Aren’t businessmen getting better prices for their goods? Aren’t vegetable and milk sellers getting higher prices? Income of all sections has gone up,” the minister contended, oblivious to the link between ‘higher prices’ and inflation.
When mediapersons persisted with inflation queries, Sisodia said, “Didn’t prices go up under Congress rule? Has it happened only in Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s government?”
Sisodia was labour minister in the Kamal Nath-led Congress regime and was among the 22 who walked out of the grand old party with Jyotiraditya Scindia, toppling the 15-month-old Congress government in the state last year and bringing BJP back to power.
