New Delhi, April 25: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s appeal to all political parties not to politicise the inflation issue and not to indulge in “scare mongering” had the Left fuming today as it launched an attack on him. The PM’s appeal came in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after his meeting with a delegation of Left parties led by CPM general secretary Prakash Karat who had called on him to discuss the price rise issue.

The PMO statement said: “The Prime Minister urged all political parties to eschew the temptation of politicising the misery of the people and warned against creating an environment of scarcity which would only encourage speculators and hoarders. The government is taking all necessary steps to deal with the problem and there is no need for political parties to indulge in scare mongering.”

This drew sharp reactions from the Left camp. Terming the PMO statement as “very unfortunate”, CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the PMO itself was politicising the price rise issue by issuing such a statement. “The government must eschew the irresponsibility of being callous towards the hardships of the people,” he said, adding that it was the duty of political parties to raise people’s issues.

CPI national secretary D Raja said the price rise was not a result of politicisation. “It is a harsh reality being faced by the people. Instead of taking effective measures to address the issue, the PM is blaming us,” he said at a press conference. Raja added that the UPA government has not taken enough steps to increase production and capital formation in the last four years.

Earlier in the day, after the meeting with the PM which lasted for 45 minutes, Karat said: “We want the price rise to be curbed immediately. We have placed six demands before the PM and hope the government will take immediate steps to implement them.”

The demands include: ban on futures trading in 25 essential commodities, curb on the procurement of foodgrain by private companies and traders, strengthening the public distribution system, cut in customs and excise duties on petroleum products, and action against blackmarketeers and hoarders.

According to the PMO statement, Singh assured the delegation that all necessary steps were being taken to ensure that the recent uptrend in inflation was reversed. Despite an extremely difficult global situation, with global prices of food, commodity and oil rising, the government has been able to ensure that “Indian people are among the least impacted” in the developing world. The PM said the government was confident of increasing procurement of foodgrain. There were indications of improved food production this year.

A normal monsoon was expected this year and this should further increase agricultural production.