By IANS,
New Delhi : Criticising the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its failure to control inflation, which crossed 11 percent, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Friday that it should now “spare the nation” and step down.
“Every Friday, the country shudders at the thought of increasing inflation. We would like to have an answer from the government on why it has failed to control inflation,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.
Inflation, which is measured on a weekly basis, touched 11.05 percent Friday.
“The illustrious team (of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram) is all set to establish new benchmarks in inflation. They have together broken past records, which they had distinctly established in 1994-95 when the present prime minister was finance minister and Chidambaram was commerce minister,” he said.
“The BJP very humbly asks the prime minister and his team to spare the nation. We have seen enough of you,” Rudy said.
Rudy recalled a statement of Chidambaram in parliament when he had said: “Main hun na (I am there)”.
“With inflation galloping, the BJP wants to ask him: ‘Tum ab kahan ho (where are you now)’?” he said.
The BJP demanded an explanation from the government on the unprecedented rise in inflation. “The prime minister claims that there is 9 percent growth, the finance minister claims there is record tax collection and the agriculture minister says there is record food production. Then why is there so much inflation,” Rudy said.
The BJP reacted to the statement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi that the non-Congress ruled states had failed to control inflation as effectively as the ones ruled by the Congress.
“This attempt to digress from the core issue is a desperate step by the Congress president to shed off the blame for the economic situation prevailing in the country today,” Rudy said.
Rudy also criticised Planning Commission Deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia for accepting an honorary doctorate in Civil Law from Oxford University. “He has got this degree for his contribution to the Indian economy. When the country is bleeding, the ‘aam admi’ (common man) is petrified, Ahluwalia has found an opportune moment to laud himself,” Rudy remarked.