Congress rubbishes WB CM's remarks against PM

New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) The Congress today dismissed as ''wrong and baseless'' the allegation of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya about the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and said the remarks were made in the context of the forthcoming panchayat elections in the state and with a view to gaining some electoral advantage.

''It is unfortuante that Mr Bhattacharya has chosen to make this unwarranted and untrue attack on the leadership of the Prime Minister,'' AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said here.

She said it was rather surprising that the West Bengal Chief Minsiter blamed the Prime Minsiter for non-performance, instead of looking to take strong and effective action in his own state.

Ms Natarajan said the entire nation was aware of the spectacular record of performance achieved by the UPA government under the leadership of Dr Singh. The focus of the UPA government had always been the welfare of the 'aam aadmi' and a number of significant initiatives had been taken to promote social justice, and the goal of an inclusive society. ''The far reaching impact of the NREGA, and the Right to Information Act, as also the law against Domestic Violence, had all been landmarks in our democracy.'' Referring to the attack of the Left parties against the government on inflation, she said the current inflation was a part of a worldwide phenomenon, and as had been well documented, inflation in several other countries, including China, was far worse than anything seen in this country.

The UPA government had moved swiftly to control inflation, and several stringent measures had already been put in place. Prices had already begun to fall, and the full impact of the corrective measures would definitely curb inflation in the next few weeks.

While the UPA government had moved with alacrity, and taken all steps possible to curb inflation, it was equally important for state governments to contribute to the efforts to control inflation, Ms Natarajan said.

''It is only the state governments who have the responsibility to crack down sternly on hoarders and blackmarketeers. The state government also have the responsibility to streamline the Public Distribution System, and ensrue that there was no pilferage or diversion of essential commodities. Congress governments in different states had acted decisively in this regard, and this contributed greatly in controlling the situation.'' UNI SH KD RAI1845