Cong slams Modi govt for high inflation

The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Narendra Modi government over inflation and rising fuel prices and demanded immediate relief by reducing taxes on petroleum products and import duty on various items.

Addressing a press conference here, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "Inflation, even in a normal time, would be intolerable. The present is not a normal time. A pandemic is raging across the country. The pandemic has resulted in jobs being axed, unemployment rising to 8.1 per cent and incomes/wages being cut for millions of working people. In such a situation of widespread distress, inflation has broken the back of the people, and we hold the Central government under Shri Narendra Modi directly responsible for the high inflation.

"Let me caution the government, the issue of high inflation will not go away if you pretend it does not exist." "The NDA government has continued to pretend that the concern about price rise is a false concern and, if the government ignores the issue, the issue will go away. The Congress party condemns the callous negligence of the government on the issue of price rise," he said.