BJP takes price battle into Congress’ court

NEW DELHI: Building up the pressure on UPA government over the spiralling price rise, the BJP launched a week-long, nationwide campaign to protest the government’s failure to control the inflation that has reached its peak in three years, with no signs of coming down.

The party has drawn up a plan to hold demonstrations and take out rallies at all its district and state headquarters. Taking the battle into the Congress camp on the ‘aam admi’ slogan, the BJP is also raising the issue of farmers’ distress and has launched a ‘kheti bachao kisan adalat’, under which it will collect feedback on loan waivers and power problems of farmers at the district and tehsil levels.

Reacting to the Congress statement on price rise that hoarding was an issue to be tackled by state governments, BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar said it was only a deplorable attempt to pass the buck and the party condemns it as such.

“There are a series of policy measures on which only the Central government can take a decision,” he said. Javdekar listed a whole range of such matters ranging from fiscal steps, export-import policy, giving teeth to the Essential Commodities Act, action against cartelisation and duty restructuring of fuel to allocation of quota for PDS.

He said several states have already complained to the Centre not only about curtailment of their PDS quota but also about the poor quality of wheat supplied to them. The Centre allowed private players to purchase food crops without putting any quantitative restrictions on their stocks.

s_rajesh@dnaindia.net