BJP on Saturday defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after his spat with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, saying price rise was a result of the "politics of largesse" played by UPA which did not implement its poll promise of giving wheat at Rs 3 to BPL families.
Referring to the verbal duel between the two leaders at the Chief Ministers' meeting, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said Modi was right in saying that the Central government was "squarely responsible" for price rise.
"Mukherjee told Modi that he was politicising the issue of price rise but the truth is that the Central government, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister were hiding their failure to control prices," Rudy claimed. Defending Modi, Rudy said the Gujarat Chief Minister had only stated that Congress had not fulfilled its election promise of providing wheat at Rs 3 per kg to BPL families.
Congress had said in its election manifesto that it would bring the Food Security Bill which would ensure this, he said.
"The Union government stands exposed completely and BJP has again reiterated that policies of the government....the largesse promised and this politics of largesse were responsible for price rise," Rudy said. He further asserted that the Centre, and not the state governments, was responsible for price rise.
"Modi has only said that the Union government is squarely responsible for price rise....The Finance Minister is saying Chief Ministers should take steps like invoking ESMA and preventing hoarding to check price rise. By this, the government is only attempting to pass the buck to the state governments," Rudy said.
He argued that government was clueless on price rise and if the state governments were responsible for price rise then Congress-ruled states should have been able to control prices. "This shows that states have no role and Central government's failure has led to price rise," he insisted.
The Rajya Sabha MP also downplayed the promise made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the meeting that the worst in the ongoing recession was over. "PM has said that the worst is over but he has been saying this for the last three months," Rudy said. PTI
