Chidabaram faces own MPs' ire on price rise

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had to face angry Congressmen at the conclusion of a debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha today.

Halfway through his reply on the debate, Opposition NDA, the Left allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and even the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) walked out expressing dissatisfaction with the minister's reply.

"The offtake of wheat has been low. Every state had been given an offtake target, which they did not stick to. As soon as the supply side is augmented, prices are expected to come down," Chidambaram said.

What was worrying for the government, however, was the open revolt by a few Congress backbenchers who demanded that the government "do something" to check the spiralling prices.

In a near empty Lok Sabha, with just about two dozen ruling party MPs present, Congress MPs Manvendra Singh and Harishsinhji Chavda loudly protested that the government was not doing enough to stem the rise in prices.

Singh said, "The people have voted for us, we have to answer them, you have to give us a convincing answer." They said the finance minister's reply was of a general nature and they needed answers they could go back to the people with.

Chavda said the finance minister should announce some strict measures against hoarders to end artificial scarcity. Even as Chidambaram tried to get on with his reply, two other backbenchers joined the furore.