"Unless they (government) take measures suggested by the CPI(M) and the Left parties and implement them seriously, they cannot control price rise," CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said.
Maintaining that his party had warned the government of making "a wrong diagnosis" of the price problem, he said it was leading to the slowing down of the economy. "Factors like high rate of interest and appreciation of the rupee were compounding the problem, far from slowing it down," Yechury said, adding the Left parties have held nationwide agitation on price rise because of such a response from the government. CPI leader D Raja said the fiscal and monetary measures on which the government was "depending a lot, have failed to yield any result".
The government, which has become a "growth fundamentalist than a welfare state, is now pleading helplessness before the market forces. All this is a result of the neoliberal policies it is pursuing," Raja said, adding the government "cannot blame everything on external or global factors all the time".
The Left parties have been demanding curbs on private companies buying foodgrains by amending the Essential Commodities Act, universalisation of public distribution system, restoration of cuts in the foodgrain quotas of states and prohibiting forward trading in 25 agricultural commodities.