Inflation's 'high-voltage shock' to hit joys of festivals, govt busy with 'statistical jugglery': Cong

The Congress on Monday slammed the Modi government over the rise in prices of food commodities, saying inflation's "high-voltage shock" is now weighing heavily on the joys of festivals but the government is busy with "statistical jugglery".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a screenshot of a media report which claimed that even before the start of the festive shopping season, rising prices have put a strain on household budgets.

In his post in Hindi on X, Ramesh said, "Inflation's high-voltage shock is now weighing heavily even on the joys of festivals. The Modi government is striking the public’s pockets with a new jolt of inflation every week."

"Wholesale prices of onions have doubled in just three weeks. Sugar has risen by 25 per cent. Prices of arhar, urad, mustard, and refined oil have also gone up. Even almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins, and walnuts have become expensive before Diwali," he said.

With milk and sugar getting costlier, prices of sweets are also rising continuously, Ramesh pointed out.

"Prices of ghee and spices are increasing too. In other words, the kitchen is expensive, festivals are costly, and the household budget is in distress," he said.

"This current hitting the public’s pockets seems invisible to the Modi government. Instead of reining in inflation, the government is busy hiding its impact through statistical jugglery. Modi ji, statistical jugglery cannot hide the impact of inflation. The public is watching everything," Ramesh said.

The Congress had last week accused the Centre of delivering a "high-voltage shock" of rising prices to the country, and said the "arrogant" Modi government remains intent on misleading the people through "statistical jugglery".

The party has said the 7.8 per cent GDP growth in the April-June quarter is "not an economic spring" and claimed it presents a "Greatly Distorted Picture" of the state of India's economy as it doesn't convey the "depressed" investment sentiment.

(With inputs from PTI)