Central Government leaders creating confusion about rising prices

Recently, both Finance Minister Chidambaram and Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi have had to answer questions in Parliament about the rising prices of essential consumer goods. Their answers do not explain the cause of the problem nor present any solution. On the contrary, their answers create confusion and are aimed at shifting the blame on somebody else.

On 28 th July, Chidambaram said that inflation is inevitable in an economy that is growing at 8%. The implication is that people must accept rising prices as a fact of life, and there is nothing to do about it. He did not explain why faster growth in production should lead to rising prices. He only created confusion.

Chidambaram also said that the central government has done what it can and it is up to the states now to act against hoarders and profiteers. However, speaking on 1 st August, Sonia Gandhi said that the previous NDA Government is to blame for the rising prices, because it had curbed the power of state governments to take action against hoarders and profiteers. This is further confusion, as the Finance Minister says the state governments must act, but the Party President says states do not have the power to do so.

If it is only the NDA government that is to blame, why is the UPA government not reversing the direction of economic policy? The truth is that the NDA as well as UPA governments have pursued the program of liberalisation and privatisation, whose main thrust is to reduce the role of the State in the economy and increase the role of private profiteers.

Sonia Gandhi is reported to have said that forward trading has an adverse impact on prices, and hence more effective regulation of speculative activities is required. However, what she did not say is that the Congress Party, just like the BJP, has been supporting the development of forward trading in food crops. The Congress led government in Maharashtra, for instance, recently announced special awards to the capitalist group that is responsible for developing the national electronic commodity exchange in Mumbai, to enable forward trading and speculation in wheat, rice and all agricultural products.

Workers, peasants and the broad masses of working people must not be fooled by the confusion mongering and diversionary tactics of the Congress leaders on the question of rising prices. They want to deflect the anger of the people by shifting the blame. They want to hide the truth that it is capitalism and capitalist reforms that are responsible for the rising prices of essential consumption articles. They want to hide the reality that the Congress Party is no different from the BJP in its commitment to the program of liberalisation and privatisation.