Inflation: Paswan, Pawar under fire

Till now, Finance Minister P Chidambaram was the only focus of his Cabinet colleagues' ire over rising inflation. But now, the target has shifted to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

According to a senior minister, Pawar's remark that he was "not an astrologer" to predict the end of the current price rise or that there was a shortage of wheat because of change in eating habits in south India have not gone down well with the rest of the Cabinet.

"The fiscal management of inflation has been more or less on expected lines, but the agriculture minister should have done more," said a senior minister in the government.

Paswan also came under fire in the recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices.