UPA in inflation bind, NDA makes chain
The NDA on Thursday stepped up pressure on the Manmohan Singh government to 'act fast on controlling prices, or get out'.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: The NDA on Thursday stepped up pressure on the Manmohan Singh government to ���act fast on controlling prices, or get out���. The BJP-led alliance, continuing with its attempts to let the issue occupy the centre of political discourse, stalled proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament for two hours at noon. Outside, its members formed a human chain around the main Parliament building to protest against the ruling combine���s failure to bring down inflation.
``If you can���t stop price rise, then you should quit and the country should go in for fresh polls,������ the alliance���s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani said while addressing the MPs, adding that the opposition was ���ready��� for the challenge.
The human chain exercise is part of the larger campaign launched by the opposition alliance to corner the ruling Congress, and ���expose it before the people���. The NDA has already decided to hold a nationwide strike on the issue on May 2. In the BJP���s assessment, the spiralling prices, and its impact on the common man, had the potential of wrecking the principal ruling party���s prospects in the upcoming electoral battles, starting with Karnataka.
���With the fruits of economic growth bypassing the common people, and with even basic food items becoming unaffordable, the poorest sections of Indian society are finding their very right to life threatened,������ Mr Advani said, adding, ``The NDA is deeply concerned at this unprecedented situation and holds the Congress party responsible for it. The situation, if unaddressed, could cause widespread starvation and hunger-related deaths. Some perceptive observers have described it as a ���silent tsunami��� in the making.������
Poking fun at the Left parties and other parties extending outside support to the government, the BJP veteran contended that the coalition was ``helpless������ as its two major allies have diametrically opposite economic and foreign policies. Claiming that such a coalition could not work, he dubbed the UPA as an ``opportunistic get-together������ formed merely to keep the NDA out.
Talking to newspersons later, Mr Advani promised that the BJP-ruled states would take effective steps to ensure the availability of foodgrains at reasonable rates for the poor.
The runaway rise in prices, he maintained, is only partially captured in the officially-declared rate of inflation of 7.41% at the end of March this year, which itself is a three-year high. ``Responsible sections of the media have reported that even this figure is a gross under-declaration of the actual rate of inflation. Neither Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor finance minister P Chidambaram has so far come clean on charges that the government is fudging inflation figures,������ Mr Advani said.
``If you can���t stop price rise, then you should quit and the country should go in for fresh polls,������ the alliance���s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani said while addressing the MPs, adding that the opposition was ���ready��� for the challenge.
The human chain exercise is part of the larger campaign launched by the opposition alliance to corner the ruling Congress, and ���expose it before the people���. The NDA has already decided to hold a nationwide strike on the issue on May 2. In the BJP���s assessment, the spiralling prices, and its impact on the common man, had the potential of wrecking the principal ruling party���s prospects in the upcoming electoral battles, starting with Karnataka.
���With the fruits of economic growth bypassing the common people, and with even basic food items becoming unaffordable, the poorest sections of Indian society are finding their very right to life threatened,������ Mr Advani said, adding, ``The NDA is deeply concerned at this unprecedented situation and holds the Congress party responsible for it. The situation, if unaddressed, could cause widespread starvation and hunger-related deaths. Some perceptive observers have described it as a ���silent tsunami��� in the making.������
Poking fun at the Left parties and other parties extending outside support to the government, the BJP veteran contended that the coalition was ``helpless������ as its two major allies have diametrically opposite economic and foreign policies. Claiming that such a coalition could not work, he dubbed the UPA as an ``opportunistic get-together������ formed merely to keep the NDA out.
Talking to newspersons later, Mr Advani promised that the BJP-ruled states would take effective steps to ensure the availability of foodgrains at reasonable rates for the poor.
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The runaway rise in prices, he maintained, is only partially captured in the officially-declared rate of inflation of 7.41% at the end of March this year, which itself is a three-year high. ``Responsible sections of the media have reported that even this figure is a gross under-declaration of the actual rate of inflation. Neither Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor finance minister P Chidambaram has so far come clean on charges that the government is fudging inflation figures,������ Mr Advani said.
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