Congress' umbilical chord with price rise

A vast section in India is reeling under unprecedented price spiral of the food items along with goods of daily use. No on in the political establishment gets moved. Rather the price rise as a political issue is dead and is ready to be buried for ever. Purchasing power of a large section of  the middle class has gone up, which makes them apologetic to complain. The fact still remains that the galloping prices of essential commodities, particularly the food items, is threatening to not only eat away the savings of a large number of people but could push the Indians into an American life style of perennial debt.

The Parliament will be rocked in the coming week on the issue of price rise. The Opposition parties in India are still groping in the dark on whys of the Congress coming back into power despite unprecedented price rise. Samajwadi Party's youth icon and Parliamentarian, Akhilesh Yadav, was quite shocked at the people voting for Congress despite the fact that they were buying potato at Rs 25 a kg. The prices of the pulses are beyond the reach of the commoners and the list is quite long.

Drought this year is a omnipresent explanation of the Congress. The party, however, does not exceed that its coming to power at the Centre rockets the price rise of essential commodities without any failings. Interesting food for thought is the association of the party with a large number of mill-owners be the of rices, pulses, sugar or of any other commodities. They share an umbilical chord and each survive at the expanse of the general mass.

The top bureaucrats in the government concede that the mill-owners started stocking their items just before they sensed that the country was not going to have a good date with Monsoon. They stocked and fueled the price rise is understood by the top bureaucrats but the remedial action is not taken. This is perplexing and is hugely against the interest of the country.

Why the issue of price rise is no more a political issue in India? Former UP chief minister and erstwhile BJP leader Kalyan Singh has a long answer but sounds quite logical. "The upper class is least bothered with price rise and same is the case with the middle class. The lower class has also nothing to do with this, as they consume what they grow and manage their affairs with the bare minimum foodgrains. The middle class should have been affected but the Sixth Pay Commission bonanza silenced them as majority of them are government servants. Rest of the middle class employed with the corporate sector do not vote," Mr Singh told this author, after the verdict of the May Lok Sabha elections this year.    

Congress wins election on slogans of Garibi hatao (bash poverty) not mehangai hatao (bash the price rise). The Opposition parties have much to ponder on how to mobilize the people on the issue which hits them at their belly.