With Economist Manmohan Singh at the helm of affairs, inflation cannot be checked

- Anil Narendra

Unfortunately, no body in this country talks about the problem that directly affects 90 per cent of its people. Neither Anna Hazare, nor Baba Ramdev is concerned about this problem. One is obsessed with Lokpal, while the other insists on bringing the black money back. Both the issues may take years for any effective solutions, but none of the opposition party speaks on the issue which is taking its toll on the common man. This issue is of rising prices, of inflation. Rising prices have cornered the common man. The inflation rate has crossed the nine percent mark due to the rising prices of petrol and other essential commodities. People, however, will have to brace themselves for more inflationary pressure in the times to come. Petrol and diesel prices are likely to increase in the days ahead. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has increase its repo rate in its monetary review on June 16, which will result in costlier bank loans. Concerned over the losses to petroleum companies, the Union Petroleum Minister, Jaipal Reddy met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested him to decide on price rise about diesel and LPG at the earliest. According to sources, the Petroleum Ministry wants to increase diesel prices by 3-4 rupees and LPG cylinder by 25-35 rupees. It has also recommended partial increase in the kerosene prices. Not a single minister in the Manmohan Singh government is bothered about the common man. On Tuesday, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia warned, “if the burden of rising cost of the petroleum is not passed on to the people, the petroleum sector will be practically doomed”. Somewhat similar views were expressed by the
C Rangarajan, Chairman, PM’s Economic Advisory Council. He said, “OMCS Oil marketing companies are running into huge losses. If diesel prices are not increased, the budget will also be affected.” At present, the inflation rate is around nine percent and this has been attributed to the ill-timed increase in petrol prices.
The hard fact is that since Manmohan Singh has taken over as the Prime Minister, his monitory policies have broken the back of the poor. There are such people around him, who boast of high statistics, but do not care for the sufferings of the common man at grass root level. It is this liberalization, which is the root cause for multi-billion scams. Why there is no investigation into the working of these oil companies? Why no body is concerned about their excessive expenditure? Why efforts are not made to reduce government consumption? Manmohan Singh has not only become burden for his party, but he has turned to be number one enemy of the poor. He is unable to stop scams. There have been unprecedented scams during his tenure as Prime Minister. The Congress Party must understand that it can’t win next election with Manmohan Singh as its face. It is, therefore, advisable for the party to nominate a new prime Minister, if it wants to come to the power in the next elections. The policies of Manmohan Singh have ruined the life of common man. During his regime, properties of industrialists have increased manifold and the bureaucracy is reigning supreme. There are other leaders too in the Congress. For example, take the Defence Minister, AK Antony. He is an honest leader and had been the Chief Minister of Kerala. He has been an unblemished leader. During this period, the Manmohan Singh government has been crushed under the weight of scams. The Congress High Command is deeply concerned about 2014 general elections. The High Command strategists have started thinking that with Manmohan Singh, as Prime Ministerial candidate, it may not be able to stake claim for power for the third time in a row, as the opponents have started saying that Manmohan Singh is an honest Prime Minister of the most corrupt government till now. Some of the critics are even more pointed in their attacks. In a recent statement, AK Antony has said that forces opposed to the demand of transparency have rallied around the power center. If certain persons demand virtues in power, then what is wrong in it. Special meanings are being attributed to these comments at this time. It is being considered as the preparation for the next phase. At that time ‘the Manmohan of Congress’ will be AK Antony. He, however, enjoys trust of 10 Janpath. His only drawback is that he is a Christian. But, Congressmen say that Antony has more faith in pure Hindu culture than any other Hindu leader. What do you think? This is much is certain that the bureaucratic tendencies of Manmohan Singh will not lead to the welfare of the common man and the inflation will continue to rise and the rich will continue to become richer and poor much poorer. People are frustrated with the BJP too. Why doesn’t it openly oppose the proposed hike in prices of petrol, diesel etc? Why doesn’t it demonstrate against galloping price rise? To send a protest letter or issue an statement afterwards will not be sufficient. The first agenda of the BJP, therefore, must be to stop the government from taking step in this direction and pressurize it in taking effective measures to curb the inflation.