National   

Centre blamed for rising prices

Staff Correspondent

Present situation a tragedy of UPA errors, says BJP

CHANDIGARH: Holding the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre responsible for the rising prices of essential commodities, the Bharatiya Janata Party has charged that the present situation is not the result of any natural calamity but a crisis manufactured by the present regime.

This opinion was expressed by Vineet Joshi, Member of the national executive of the BJP's Youth Wing, whose protest against price rise was marked through a satirical setting up of a Vegetable Loan Centre here on Friday. He said that through this protest the party sought to convey that if effective steps were not initiated people might soon have to apply for personal loans to meet their monthly expenses on vegetables and fuel.

Mr. Joshi said that the prevailing crisis for the common Indian citizen had "exposed the myth about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being a great economist" as he had failed to control the situation. Instead of developing technology and creating innovative products to benefit the people, he authored policies which promoted loot and exploitation.

Describing the situation as a "tragedy of UPA's errors", Mr. Joshi said the present Government had failed to take timely decisions because of its anti-people policies. While the common man faced the worst inflation, the ruling party was ironically distancing itself from the Government to pay lip service to the poor. He charged that at the same time its Left allies were staging pseudo demonstrations, assuming they could fool the people.

Mr. Joshi said it was the seventh hike in petroleum prices during UPA rule which had increased the burden on common man by a whopping 60 per cent.

He underlined that 44 per cent of the Central excise and 21 per cent of the total revenue receipts come from petroleum products only.

The youth leader said that when the previous NDA-led Government began restructuring the levies by deciding on a two per cent reduction in excise duty, the then Congress-led state governments foiled the attempt by increasing the local sales tax.

Now the UPA-led Central Government, which had increased the prices, was asking the state governments to reduce the local taxes.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cash underpins continuing carnage in Kashmir
CBI seeks sanction to prosecute Jayalalithaa
Nuclear deal: India concurs with Rice
RSS to BJP: shed personality cult
Massive protest against Narmada project
I cannot act on my own: Tandon
Centre blamed for rising prices
Additional battalion for Congo polls
India pledges $2 million for Peace Building Fund
CAB polls: Left Front not to interfere
Deficit budget for West Bengal
Probe Lalu's cash payments: BJP
NHRC seeks report on Shahabuddin's health
Withdraw Army operations, says ULFA leader

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu