Let us support Opposition on price rise issue

Kudos to the efforts of the Opposition parties in the country who have at last taken up the real 'am admi' issue, that is ever spiraling prices of all commodities including the essential items. On the very first working day of the monsoon session of Parliament, both Houses of Parliament have been adjourned till noon as the Opposition has cornered the government over the issue of price rise.

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Cutting across the party lines, I think we should all support the Opposition move to corner the government as the ruling party has literally taken the more than 100 crore people of this country for a ride on the issue of price rise.

Even though the ruling coalition, led by the grand old party Congress, has been claiming that the government stands rock firm for the interest of 'am admi', the result so far has been something else. When the prices of even the essential items like oil, rice, wheat, vegetables, et al have been sky-rocketing all through the country, the Minister concerned in the Central government, Food and Agriculture Minister Shri Sharad Pawar was busy involved in sports intricacies.

It was there for everybody to see that the minister was more interested in the politics of International Cricket Council (ICC) and Indian Premier League (IPL). It shows the height of the insensitivity on the part of Shri Pawar, when he said at one point of time that the price rise is an international issue. He also kept on the argument that the price rise issue is the responsibility of the entire government.

Our Prime Minister Dr Singh cannot absolve himself from the responsibility as he has to blame himself for not taking prompt action. Being the head of the government, he should have taken some knee-jerk actions to arrest the price rise. The first step should have been to remove Shri Pawar from the Food ministry to bring in somebody who has the expertise and time to tackle the issue more sensitively. Shri Pawar should have rightly been accommodated in the Sports Ministry.

Now, the Opposition wants an adjournment motion on the matter of price rise - that means the discussion would end with a vote. The Opposition has done the right thing.

Members of Opposition parties protested in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Among other points, they want to know why the government has allowed the deregulation of petrol prices, which has led to petrol costing more.

In a setback for the government, the Bahujan Samjwadi Party (BSP) has demanded a discussion on price rise. The BSP has in the past come to the government's rescue by voting with it on crucial issues.

While the Congress is jittery about issues like inflation forcing unity among a usually-scattered Opposition, the BJP is desperate to deflect attention from its own crisis. Amit Shah, a BJP minister in Gujarat, was forced to resign after being accused of murder. He has since been arrested.