Govt 'criminally negligent' to common man: BJP

New Delhi, Jun 27: Expressing alarm over the unabated inflation, the BJP said ''a tottering government led by a sulking Prime Minister'' had no solution up its sleeve to contain the spiralling rise in prices.

BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said the UPA government had mismanaged food and oil economy. ''We have a sulking Prime Minister and a tottering government where a divorce is being planned and the terms of maintenance finalised,'' he said pointing towards the standoff between the the UPA and the supporting Left parties over the nuclear issue.

Accusing the Government of being ''criminally negligent'' and indifferent to the concerns of the common man, Mr Prasad said the ''theatre of the absurd'' being enacted in Delhi must end.

He said the Centre did possess enough flexibility to take anti-inflationary measures. and recalled Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's claim that the the government had procured 220 lakh tonnes of food grains. ''Our question is that if this is true, why are these stocks not being distributed to the poor to surmount surging prices.'' Similarly, Mr Prasad said, Finance Minister P Chidambaram too was claiming that the direct tax revenues had touched Rs 360 lakh crore from Rs 310 lakh crore, registering an increase of 41 per cent.

''The statements of these ministers show that the government has the flexibility but no political will to help the poor masses,'' he said, adding ''it is a case of rank mismanagement by a negligent government whose sole concern is to survive at all costs.'' The BJP's comments came in the wake of headline inflation touching 11.42 per cent for the week ended June 14 as compared to 11.05 per cent of the previous week.

UNI