Why blame Sharad Pawar solely for price rise, asks Yashwant Sinha

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today got support from unexpected quarters when senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said it was incorrect to blame him solely for the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities when it was a question of collective responsibility.

"Why do you blame Sharad Pawar singularly? It is the collective responsibility of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his team, including the super prime minister Sonia Gandhi," Sinha said.

He was replying to a query whether divesting the food and supply portfolio from Pawar during the recent cabinet reshuffle would make any impact in controlling prices of food grains and other commodities.

"In our system, decisions are taken collectively. And it is not making scapegoat for every reason - be it the second generation mobile telephony spectrum accused Raja or Sharad Pawar - as the entire government headed by the prime minister is responsible for price rise, scams and corruption," Sinha contended.