Left, SP stage walkout in Lok Sabha on price rise issue

Members of four Left parties and Samajwadi Party (SP) today walked out of the Lok Sabha protesting the government's "lack of response" to their demand for a white paper on rise in prices of essential commodities, especially food articles.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta and CPI(M)'s Basudeb Acharia sought a white paper on the price situation, saying the government had "failed" to take any step to curb the rising trend of prices.     

They were supported by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, as several members from BJP, RJD, BSP and BJD associated with the Left parties on the issue. The leaders included Gopinath Munde (BJP), Bhratruhari Mahtab (BJD) and
Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP).

"We have raised the matter a number of times in the House, but there has been no response from the government and the
prices have continued to rise. We demand that the government come out with a white paper and take action to check the
rising prices," Dasgupta said.

Acharia wanted the concerned minister to reply and urged Speaker Meira Kumar to "put pressure" on the government to reply to their demands. However, there was no response from the treasury benches, which prompted the entire Left bloc to stage a walk out.

CPI(M) member Ramchandra Dome also took the government to task on "skyrocketting prices" and said the Left parties were
staging a massive rally outside Parliament to protest the government's policies which, he said, was causing the prices to rise.