Inflation will be controlled by September: Sibal

Varanasi, Apr 19 (UNI) Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal today claimed that the UPA government at the Centre was making serious efforts to control price rise by September 2007.

Refusing to buy the contention at a press conference here about inflation being the prime reason behind the defeat of Congress in Punjab and Uttaranchal, besides party's drubbing in MCD poll, Mr Sibal said ''price hike was only a minor issue in these polls and it was anti-incumbency, which resulted in the ouster of Congress regimes.'' ''The Centre is making serious efforts to check price rise and the inflation rate has already been pulled down from six per cent to 5.74 per cent. Sustained efforts are on to control inflation by September next,'' Mr Sibal claimed.

The Union Minister, however, observed inflation was more a problem in Uttar Pradesh than anywhere else in India. ''A state which has been ruled for the last 18 years by non-Congress governments led by those identical to Sholay's Gabbar Singh is bound to be plagued by inflation.'' ''The Centre had sent huge quantity of foodgrains to UP for distribution among Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, but the state government, instead sent these essentials to Bangladesh. In such a scenario, inflation is bound to rule the roost,'' Mr Sibal maintained.

Mr Sibal noted ''if the Mulayam regime had been serious about arresting price rise, it would have conducted raids on the premises of those indulged in hoarding of essentials.'' He charged, ''UP is faced with lack of political alternative as all three major parties in the state, BJP, BSP and SP, are corrupt and icons of misgovernance.'' ''Instead of talking about development, the chief ministerial candidates of the three parties are vowing public about jailing their opponents if voted to power. It is painful that UP is presently trapped in a pool of jail politics and is far away from development-oriented politics.'' ''But the public will throw real surprises in the seven phase assembly polls, by voting out all these three parties out of UP.

Wait for Chamatkar (surprise) in this UP elections,'' Mr Sibal said.

UNI