If this is growth, please skip it: BJP in price rise debate

New Delhi: The Opposition got down to business today, challenging the government to explain why it has not been able to control rising prices.  

A debate on the issue in the Lok Sabha will be followed by a vote. The discussion was initiated today by the BJP's Yashwant Sinha, who delivered a series of body blows. "We do  not agree that growth is related to prices. If growth means a rise in prices, then we do not want such growth," he said. Then he pulled out the C-stick that the Opposition wants to beat the government with in this parliament session. 

"Corruption is the biggest cause of price rise," Mr Sinha said. He pointed out that food grain is rotting in warehouses instead of being distributed to the poor.

Mr Sinha said  his party "urges the government to overcome its inertia" to introduce a comprehensive food pricing and management policy. "This will not only bring relief to the common man but will also serve as an antidote for the growing economic imbalances in the country."

The BJP also offered some advice to the government.  "When I was Foreign Minister," Mr Sinha added, "I would move around the world, my photos would get published. But when I went to a remote village in my constituency, asking for votes, an old lady asked me 'What's the price of kerosene?' I had no answers. And we lost the elections. You will meet the same fate," he warned.

Mr Sinha also delivered on the BJP's promise to target the Prime Minister in its different campaigns against the government. "Those who contest elections, they should be worried. Those who don't can relax," he said. Dr Manmohan Singh is a Raya Sabha MP from Assam, so he is not elected directly by voters.

Defending the government, Law Minister Salman Khursheed said that all developing countries find themselves combatting inflation, and that the government "is doing everything in its power" to control prices. "In  a lighter moment, referring to a film dialogue, Mr Khursheed said, "There is that line...you may have everything, but mere paas ma hain (but I have my mother on my side). That's what we are saying...you may have everything, but we have Dr Manmohan Singh."

The joke was well-received.

Yesterday, the BJP and the government compromised on the wording of the motion for the debate on price rise. The motion  states, "Despite repeated discussions on price rise in the House, the burden of price rise on the common man is continuing. Expressing deep concern over price rise, this House calls upon the Government to take immediate effective steps to check inflation that will give relief to the common man."

In exchange for the BJP toning down the language of the motion to a point where it was acceptable to the Congress, the government has agreed that the price rise debate will be followed by a vote. Because the motion has been agreed on, both sides are likely to vote for the resolution, therefore marking , on record, their concern over prices.

In a vote on price rise it would be interesting to watch UPA allies like the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which have all taken a tough stand on the issue outside Parliament. These parties also add crucial numbers to the government's tally in both Houses.