Congress admits it’s inflation; Oppn attack made it tougher

Months of spiralling inflation caught up with the Congress on Tuesday and pushed it behind in Punjab and Uttarakhand. Faced with unimpressive performances in both states, the Congress admitted defeat — but not before it had pinned the blame for the voters’ disenchantment on price rise.

Even before the counting of votes for Punjab and Uttaranchal could end, Congress leaders went on television to admit that the party’s defeat in the assembly polls could be attributed to price rise and anti-incumbency. In a culmination of the brewing unhappiness within the party over the UPA government’s management of inflation, Congress leaders of different ranks,

from Cabinet minister Ambika Soni to party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan to the just-dethroned Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, all zeroed in on ‘prices’ to explain the party’s defeat. The Captain said he had no idea why the urban voter in Punjab had refused to vote for the Congress and added that perhaps it had something to do with the price rise.

Ms Natarajan also freely admitted on various television networks that price rise had pulled the Congress down. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while talking about the reasons for the Congress’ poor performance in the states, talked of inflation. “I think we will realise that all the factors contributed to this. There is no need to be despondent. I do recognise that inflation is a problem. The government is trying to tackle it as best as it can,” Mr Singh told reporters.

However, there is some irony in the Prime Minister faintly echoing the Congress party’s stand on prices. Despite some Congress leaders holding that “facts are facts” and that “corrective steps (on inflation) are necessary” to explain the Congress admission on price rise, the party’s statement, more than anything else, could result in strengthening the hands of the Opposition BJP and the Left as they attack the government, particularly Dr Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram.

The price rise rhetoric of the Congress, however, was toned down by Tuesday evening with Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi claiming that inflation was just one of the contributing factors for the Congress’ defeat, the other being the BJP’s campaign aimed at “misleading” people.