New Delhi, Feb. 5: Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar came under attack on the price rise issue at a Congress Working Committee meeting here on Friday. The party’s chief ministers and permanent invitees also attended the meeting, called to discuss the rise in prices after the Congress returned to power at the Centre in mid-2009.
At least three CWC members — Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, R.K. Dhawan and Satyavrat Chaturvedi — were critical of Mr Pawar’s performance as agriculture minister, sources said. They held that Mr Pawar’s "irresponsible" statements had led to a rise in the prices of essential commodities.
Mr Dhawan also strongly objected to Mr Pawar bringing up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s name into the prices controversy. The Prime Minister, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and other senior Congress leaders did not intervene in the discussions which were presided over by the party chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
The CWC also deliberated on Telengana and the Shiv Sena’s ongoing campaign in Mumbai, which it unequivocally rejected, saying that "the challenge of those seeking to threaten the country’s unity will be accepted by all Indians". Defence minister A.K. Antony told the meeting: "We not only believe in the country’s political unity but also its emotional unity."
On the food issue, several members, including some chief ministers, were critical of the Food Corporation of India’s delay in releasing grain from its godowns, and for not supplying foodgrains on time to the public distribution system, as well as their quality. The state-owned FCI is under the direct control of Mr Pawar’s ministry.
Dr Karan Singh demanded a draconian law to check hoarding and blackmarketing, while another member, Mr K. Keshav Rao, opposed the proposed move to raise the prices of petroleum products. As many as 18 members, including Mr Digvijay Singh, Ms Mohsina Kidwai and some chief ministers, offered suggestions on how to control the price rise. Some said Mr Pawar should desist from attempts to create a "fear psychosis".
Some sources said that there was talk of the department of consumer affairs being taken away from Mr Pawar, but this was later strongly denied by AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said later that some measures to tackle rising prices had been taken in consultation with chief ministers, and the results should be visible in the next few weeks. "We are trying to control inflation through an increase in production... We had a serious global economic crisis, we faced it, and we will carry forward that progress," Dr Singh said, adding that he had taken note of suggestions made at the meeting.
Age Correspondent