NCP hits out at Rahul, asks him not to show ''arrogance''

New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) NCP, a major constituent of theUPA, today hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for blamingcoalition compulsion for price rise, saying his statementsshould reflect "humility" and not "arrogance".

A day after Gandhi made the comments which seemed totarget Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, NCP GeneralSecretary and spokesman D P Tripathi said the Congressleader''s statement was not based on facts.

"Congress party is the principal party in the UPA and anystatement of the leader of that party should reflect humilityand not arrogance," Tripathi told a press conference here.

Describing Gandhi''s statement as "unfortunate", the NCPleader said no single minister, including Pawar, could be heldresponsible for the price rise as "it is the collectiveresponsibility" of the Government.

"I have always admired Rahul Gandhi and wished himsuccess in politics. But I felt sad that the importantpolitical leader of the UPA and the Congress party has made astatement which is not based on facts," Tripathi said.

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has complimentedPawar for handling food and agriculture.

Sending out a message to Congress, the NCP spokesman madeit clear that it would have to live with coalition politics asthe single party rule is not possible in the "distant" and"foreseeable" future.

"These are days of pluralism... Coalition rule hasarrived," Tripathi said.

Noting that the essence of people''s verdict in 2004 and2009 General Elections was following of "coalition course andnot collision course", he said any attack on the coalitionpolitics would amount to attacking the verdict of India.

He recalled that the biggest mass movement against pricerise had taken place in 1974-75 when Indira Gandhi was thePrime Minister.