Led by Janata Dal leader Mrinal Gore, hundreds of women participated in the morcha taken out from Churchgate to Azad Maidan. Gore had organised a similar morcha in 1972, to force the government to curb rising prices.Today's rolling pin agitation was no different. Members from as many as 17 women's organisations rolled up their sleeves and braved the hot sun only to drive home one point: the government needs to act, and act fast, to bring down prices.

And just in case the sight of numerous women shaking their rolling pins was not enough of a warning for the government, the enthusiastic crowd heaped one sobriquet after the other on Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Deputy CM Gopinath Munde, chor being just one of them. One of the posters read Thackeray baba aur Shiv Sena 40 chor.

Explaining the reason forequating ministers with thieves, Tara Reddy, one of the organisers of the morcha, said: ``The price rise is not just because of the crops being affected due to rains. Black marketeers and hoarders are having a whale of a time and the government is doing nothing to stop them.'' Her anger was shared by the rest of the crowd, some of whom had walked all the way from far-off suburbs like Bhayander and Thane to participate in the morcha. Many women carried their babies in their arms. All for a good cause, as Meena Ben, a housewife from Malad explained: ``We don't get anything at the ration shop. What are we supposed to eat? They announced a PDS for onions, but we haven't got any so far.'' Reddy adds, ``First of all, only few shops are covered under the scheme. On top of it, the shops that do have it get such rotten onions that even shopkeepers are throwing it away.''

It was not just about onions. Most of the essential commodities have become much too expensive for the common man, Gore lamented as the morchaculmination at Azad Maidan. Sharing the dais the back of a truck serving for a makeshift stage with a host of leaders of various women's groups, Gore demanded that the government start a parallel wholesale market at Dahisar, on the lines of the one in Vashi.