RJD slams Yogi's Deepotsav; shares visuals of people scooping unburnt oil amid price rise

As Yogi Adityanath govt rings in Diwali by lighting 12 lakh oil lamps (diyas), RJD on Friday, shared a video in which citizens are seen scooping up unburnt oils from the diyas. Terming it the real picture of India, he said that the real story of the country is not the Deepotsav. The Centre is mulling implementing stock limits on oilseeds and edible oils in states to bring relief for consumers.

RJD slams Yogi's deepotsav

Ayodhya's grand Deepotsav

On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh government achieved a major milestone as it entered the Guinness World Records for the largest display of oil lamps, as part of the Deepotsav 2021 on November 3. The state’s Department of Tourism and Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University were named in the Guinness certificate for lighting 12 lakh earthen lamps or diyas across the state. Ram Ki Paidi and bank of Saryu river alone were lit with nine lakh diyas, which symbolised the number of houses provided to the people under the Central government’s PM Awas Yojana Urban. The other three lakh diyas are meant for the temples and the monasteries in the state.

The Centre has said that it has taken steps to reduce edible oil prices by ₹3-4 per kilogram “Despite international commodity prices being high, interventions taken by the central government along with state governments' proactive involvement have led to cooling down of prices in India much more than the international market,” Sudhanshu Pandey, food secretary told PTI. “Edible oil prices are higher than the year-ago period but from September onwards, there was a declining trend,” Pandey added. He also said that states were asked to enforce the Essential Commodities Act, impose stock limits and take action against offenders.

UP polls

All these steps come ahead of the all-importany UP Assembly polls where BJP - fighting under the leadership of incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath - faces challenges from several fronts. SP chief Akhilesh Singh Yadav has stated that SP will only ally with smaller political parties for the 2022 Assembly polls, allying with Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP. Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return.