iPhone 4s pricing, Advani to go on a mini rath yatra

The BJP patriarch is clearly miffed with Apple over 4s pricing.

L K Advani, fresh from an all-expenses paid national vacation, has threatened to go on another instalment of his patented Rath Yatra unless Apple revises the prices of iPhone 4s phones in India. It may be remembered that Apple had launched 4S at almost twice its international price here and the rationale behind the move is still unclear.

Aiming clearly at the country’s youth who are very angry with Apple, Advani stated that his yatra threat will force Apple to reduce prices and bring them on par with international rates. “Such discrimination is in clear violation of established international business practices and will hurt the Indian youth. We are therefore against such irrational pricing and the matter will be raised in the parliament. We will not let both houses function unless the government provides a satisfactory reply on the issue,” Advani said.

"A 16GB iPhone at Rs 44,500? While the 32 GB variant at 50,900? What kind of pricing is this? Who has decided these numbers. I was told that 4s would be cheaper than the standard iPhone,” Advani said. He also said that such pricing would contribute to inflation and also put pressure on the Rupee which he said was 'behaving like Kingfisher airline' at this point of time.

Advani's mini rath

Political analysts feel that the senior BJP leader who wanted to become India's PM since his childhood days during the early cretaceous, has made this move to appease India's youth who are not able to connect with him. Advani has been unsuccessfully trying to target this segment since quite sometime.

Advani said he will go on a 4s yatra across 5 states in protest soon and has asked BJP workers to gherao Apple’s offices in India. Responding to the call, a small group of senior BJP workers attacked a nearby Apple orchard in Shimla and asked the owner to reduce prices or face social boycott. Further details are awaited on the attack.

Apple sources were not available for comment.