Prices are now taking a downward trend: Shukla

New Delhi, Mar 8 (UNI) Two days after Congress President Sonia Gandhi admitted that price rise was one of the main factors for the drubbing of the party in the recent assembly polls in Punjab and Uttarakhand, party member Rajiv Shukla today said the prices were now taking a downward trend at least of six essential items.

Continuing the debate in the Rajya Sabha on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, Mr Shukla said price rise was a temporary phenomenon but the measures taken by the UPA government had seen the prices of items like sugar, wheat, rice, steel coming down and the Finance Minister was keen that cement prices, too, should follow suit. With this happening, it would have a positive effect on bringing down the inflationary trend witnessed in recent months, he claimed.

Notably, Mrs Gandhi in the Congress Parliamentary Party(CPP) meeting on Tuesday had admitted that price rise was one of the factors that led to the poor show of the party in the assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Expressing fears over growing import of agricultural produce, Mr Shukla said the growing urbanisation and the demand for setting up Special Economic Zones would put pressure on agricultural land and challenge the food security of the country. The SEZs and urban centres should come up on wasteland and not gobble up fertile pieces of agricultural land like it had happened in countries like Syria, he said.

Touching upon judicial reforms, he favoured the old mode of appointment of judges which had the participation of the Executive, saying the system functioned very well and there were few complaints. But with the Judiciary taking over the responsibility, there was a rise in the number of complaints and it was time to revert to the old system, he said, adding the Chief Justice of India was very concerned about the need for carrying out reforms.

Referring to the speech of Samajwadi Party leader Janeshwar Mishra where he had accused the government of targeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh in a corruption case, Mr Shukla said the entire happenings were taking place at the orders of the Supreme Court and there was no question of anybody targeting any person. The Samajwadi Party should learn to understand the reality, he added.

They welcome when the probe is against Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati or Railway Minister Lalu Prasad but protest when it arrives at their doorstep, he commented.

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