A senior Madhya Pradesh minister has ignited fresh controversy after brushing aside public anxiety over soaring sugar prices, arguing that the commodity ought to be “very expensive” and insisting those aged over 40 be denied access to it entirely.Kailash Vijayvargiya, the state’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister, made these remarks on Wednesday in response to mounting criticism from opposition parties over spiralling sugar prices ahead of the major festive season.Ninety per cent of the people do not like sweets these days, he said, adding that he has stopped consuming such food items altogether.Talking to reporters here, the BJP leader, who has repeatedly drawn public and media attention for making controversial statements, claimed that the prices of sugar were dropping steadily. “Anyway, 90 per cent of people don’t like sweets these days. Let me tell you, I don’t eat sweets at all,” he said.The minister said in a lighter vein, “I say that (sugar) should become very expensive. (Sugar) should only be available at cheap rates at government fair price shops for children…The elderly should not be given sugar at all.” He said that doctors, especially Ayurvedic ones, do not consider it a good idea for people over 40 years of age to consume sugar.”If you are over 40, you can eat jaggery once in a while, but avoid sugar completely,” he said.State Congress President Jitu Patwari latched on to Vijayvargiya’s remarks to target the ruling BJP over the rising sugar prices.He said that BJP leaders, who came to power on the promise of reducing inflation, were insulting and ridiculing the poor and middle-class with their “absurd” statements on sugar.”The country is watching the BJP leaders. People will give a befitting reply to their laughter in the upcoming elections. Then we will see whether they retain their smiles or shed tears,” he said.Opposition parties have been targeting the Centre over increased ethanol blending in petrol, alleging that the policy was pushing up sugar prices and imposing an additional financial burden on people.The government has rejected the claims and instead blamed the industry for jacking up prices despite the country having sufficient stock to meet domestic demand.Sugar prices rose for the second day in a row on Wednesday by over Re 1 per kg in the retail market due to an uptick in festive demand, according to government data.Retail prices of the sweetener continue to be high despite a nearly 20 per cent decline in ex-mill rates after the government’s decision to allow imports of 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar.As per the data compiled by the Department of Consumer Affairs (Price Monitoring Division), the all-India average rate of sugar is Rs 65.05 per kg on August 26 as against Rs 63.97 per kg on Tuesday.