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Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that the sharp rise in gold and silver prices was due to the “corrupt BJP’s new economic concept” of converting ill-gotten gains in the form of cash into precious metals.

In a post in Hindi on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, unlike normal economic principles, rising prices of these metals were leading to higher demand rather than curbing it, and termed it “solidification of corruption” under the BJP rule.

“The corrupt BJP’s new economic concept. Solidification of corruption = Converting money earned through corrupt means, in the form of liquid cash, into precious metals. The solidification of corruption is a new economic concept under BJP rule, where a rise in price does not decrease demand, but rather increases it. This increased demand then leads to a further increase in price,” Yadav said.

The SP chief alleged that the surge in the prices of precious metals had serious social consequences, leading to a rise in incidents of theft, burglary, robbery, and snatching in homes, neighbourhoods, shops and markets, and requiring additional security forces.

“This puts further pressure on the already weak police system under BJP rule, resulting in extremely ineffective policing and making criminal elements even more active,” Yadav said.

“If you don’t believe this, have an analysis of this price increase conducted with the help of AI,” the SP chief said.

Silver prices soared to breach the Rs 3 lakh-per kg-mark for the first time in futures trade on Monday, as escalating trade tariff tensions over Greenland and a weak US dollar boosted demand for the safe-haven asset.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), silver futures zoomed by Rs 16,438, or nearly 6 per cent, to hit a record of Rs 3,04,200 per kilogram. Gold prices also strengthened in tandem, scaling fresh record highs.

The yellow metal for the February contract advanced by Rs 2,983, or 2.09 per cent, to Rs 1,45,500 per 10 grams. Over the previous week, gold added Rs 3,698, or 2.7 per cent, on the MCX.