Inflation: BJP asks Chidambaram to take responsibility and quit

New Delhi, May 31 (UNI) Accusing the UPA Government of failing to arrest the soaring inflation which had breached the eight per cent mark, the BJP today asked Finance Minister P Chidambaram to take responsibility and quit if he could not check the spiralling prices.

Reacting sharply to the Finance Minister's observation that he could not take more steps to check inflation, BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said, ''We can only demand that he should quit office if he can't manage. We (BJP) have repeatedly expressed our views that the supply side of the food economy is not at all good.'' He said the previous NDA regime had successfully tackled the prices of all essential commodities and kept inflation low and the interest rates on a tight leash. The NDA could do it one more time if given a chance by the people, he added.

Mr Prasad said it was surprising that although the government was claiming a nine per cent growth rate and expecting a bumper harvest, it was not reflected in the control of prices and inflation. ''We are sorry that the supply side of food management is grossly mismanaged,'' he said.

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