Government is sleeping while people are weeping: BJP on price rise

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday demanded a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the government’s inability to control inflation.

"In the last seven years, price rise has been discussed 10 times, but what's the result? The government is sleeping while people are weeping," BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters outside Parliament.

The prime minister, he said, should give reasons for the price rise. "Even the prime minister’s Economic Advisory Council has given up.”

The Council has revised its growth forecast to 8.2% in 2011, down from 9%.

“The prime minister is answerable to Parliament, and Parliament to people,” Naidu said.

The issue has been taken up by the Left as well.

“Price rise is affecting the common man. Despite that prices of petrol and diesel have been raised thrice. The government needs to take a committed stand on inflation, which can be done only after a discussion and voting,” Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) Sitaram Yechury said.

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned and question hour cancelled as the opposition persisted with its demand for a discussion on price rise under rules that have a provision for voting.

The government has rejected this demand, conceding that it was ready to debate any issue but not under rules that entail voting and make the house recommendations binding on it.