Indian Chief Minister's wife seeks loan to buy onions

Giving a new twist to the controversy over rising prices of onions in India, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's wife, Sadhna Singh, on Thursday afternoon applied for a loan in the State Bank of India so she could buy onions.

Sadhna Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Maya Singh along with hundreds of other BJP workers gathered at the State Bank of India, TT Nagar Branch, on Thursday morning to file applications for onion loans. ''We have received about 15-16 applications for loans varying from Rs 50,000 to Rs One lakh for the purpose of buying onions," said Mahesh Kochar, regional manager of SBI. Others who applied for onion loan included state BJP Mahila Morcha president Neeta Pateria and the party's MLAs from Bhopal.

Not just Bhopal, applications for loans for the purchase of onions were submitted by BJP workers at nationalized banks across Madhya Pradesh.

The state BJP organised the ''Onion Loan demonstrations in every district protesting against the sudden increase in the price of the vegetable. While in Bhopal Sadhna Singh, who is also the vice-president of the women's wing, and Maya Singh were asked to take the lead, Indore saw the BJP state president Prabhat Jha and the party's youth wing president Jeetu Jirati apply for the loan. ''Earlier we shed tears chopping onions, now we are crying while buying onions," Sadhna Singh said.