BJP warns govt against rising prices

Vajpayee courts arrest

Courting arrest after nearly 30 years, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the issue of price rise in a well attended rally at the Ram Lila Grounds here today.

Vajpayee, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief LK Advani and other leaders spoke true to script in a rally, which compensated in attendance what it lacked in fiery speeches.

"It is the responsibility of the government to keep prices stable. The government has failed in this task," said Vajpayee. The rally was a way to corner the government both inside and outside Parliament.

"The government is not able to give direction to the country, which way it has to be shaped," said Vajpayee.

He said the common man was at the receiving end due to the "instability in the market and frequent changes in government decisions."

In a flash of rare humour in a speech full of dire warnings, he referred to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's speech saying the National Democratic Alliance was a party of Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapane (Mungeri Lal's pleasant dreams), "we only dream those dreams, which can be translated into reality," he said.

He said the prices of daily-use commodities had increased and that the "common man is unhappy". "The UPA government does not have the amount of awareness that it ought to have on this," Vajpayee alleged and warned the government against having such an attitude.

The issue of inflation, although relevant, did not hold the crowd for long, which is when Vajpayee switched tracks to the recent spat between Union Ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan and said said: "Nobody will appreciate it." The party will also be taking it up in a big way in Parliament.

Advani too did not mince words while taking on the UPA both on the price rise issue and internal security. He accused the UPA coalition of having "deceived" the people.

Addressing the rally, Advani charged the Congress with having links with Ulfa and naxalites to win the last elections. "There was a slogan, Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath. But now we can say the Congress hand is not with the people but it has committed deceit," he charged.

Advani alleged that during the past seven months of UPA rule, the "trust" that the national security was safe had vanished. "During the six-year rule of the Vajpayee government, there was the trust that the nation is safe. But now that trust is broken," he said.

Making a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Advani said: "It is for the first time that we have a Prime Minister who does not have the last word. There is a SPM (super prime minister) and the CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) above him.

Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of "betraying" the common man, Advani said "while the NDA government had touched a growth rate of eight per cent, the UPA government has taken inflation to that digit."

The BJP chief said he used to respect Manmohan Singh as an economist but regretted that "with an economist becoming the Prime Minister, not only the country but also the people are suffering". "This situation should change. The earlier we do it, the better," he said.

Both leaders along with senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Pramod Mahajan courted arrest near the Ambedkar Stadium, which had been converted to a large jail for the day. They were later released. The rally will be followed by a debate on inflation in the Lok Sabha, the party is trying for a vote on the issue under Section 184.