|
Price rise : Chidambaram under attack from all sides |
 |
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram faced an embarrassing situation on Friday, July 28, when he came under attack on the price rise issue from all sides of the House. The Minister was put in the dock by the Opposition, Left supporters and allies like the Rashtriya Janata Dal and even some Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha on what they called the relentless increase in the prices of essential commodities. They accused the Government of being a mute witness to the misery faced by the aam admi (common man).
Chidambaram faced a nearly empty House as the entire Opposition led by the BJP staged a walkout, followed by the Left allies, the Samajwadi Party and coalition partner RJD also walking out at the end of the short discussion, expressing dissatisfaction with the Finance Minister’s reply.
Chidambaram was constantly interrupted while responding to the two-day long debate on rising prices. Even some Congress members including Harisinh Chavda, Manvendra Singh, Chandrashekhar Dubey and Rajesh Mishra, criticised the Government vehemently, prompting Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs B.K. Handique to go up to them and request them to refrain from constant interruptions.
At one stage, RJD MP Vijay Krishna was heard saying that at this rate, there might be a need to replace the Finance Minister. A remark similar to this was made earlier in the day by Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) on the issue of the Reserve Bank out-sourcing its activities, leading to strike in banks. He had said during a call attention motion that his party could reconsider its support if the Government persisted with “anti-worker” policies, upon which BJP MP Kharabela Swain rose to ask whether that was a promise.
Cutting across party lines, member after member attacked the Government, saying that there was no control on spiraling prices of all essential commodities with speculators and black-marketeers having a field day.
|
