After n-deal, Left attacks Manmohan Govt on inflation

On a collision course with the UPA Government over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Left parties on Friday utilised the steep surge in inflation...

On a collision course with the UPA Government over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Left parties on Friday utilised the steep surge in inflation to step up their attack on the Manmohan Singh Government, demanding the dismissal of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram for his “failure” to rein in prices.

RSP general secretary T J Chandrachoodan demanded that Congress president Sonia Gandhi “ask the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to resign because they have totally belied the expectations of the Left parties and the people”.

In a strongly-worded statement, the CPI(M) said the rise in inflation was a direct result of the steep increase effected by the Government in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, and this was going to have a disastrous effect on the living standards of people with the rampant increase in prices of all essential commodities.

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“The Manmohan Singh Government is squarely responsible for this dismal situation. It cannot escape by blaming global inflation,” it said, noting that the Government had refused to ban forward trading in all essential commodities and do away with the “iniquitous” taxation structure and the import parity pricing of the petroleum products.

“The Government refuses to tax the windfall profits of private refineries like the Reliance Industries which made a profit of Rs 10,372 crore in 2007-08. Even in the United States, to whom our rulers look up to, the concept of taxing windfall profits is accepted,” it said.

Dubbing the rise in inflation as “alarming”, Forward Bloc leader G Devarajan asked the Government to learn lessons from their experiences in pursuit of the policies of globalisation.

Security personnel patrol as the curfew imposed after the protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Thursday. (ANI Video Grab)

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