PM uses poll platform to explain price rise

In his only campaign appearance for the first phase of the Karnataka polls, the Prime Minister was exposed to a creamy layer of Bangalore's intellectuals and Congress workers instead of a mass rally on account of his schedule and the winding down of the first phase of campaigning on Thursday.

“We are bearing a huge cost on the exchequer to shield the poor from rising prices. We are making strenuous efforts to shield the poor,” Singh said while expressing confidence that the Government would rein in Inflation in the coming months.

“Kerosene and LPG prices have been hardly touched in the last four years and even petrol and diesel price rises have been low. Foodgrain issue prices for BPL rice and wheat have not been touched while wheat and rice support prices have been doubled for the benefit of our farmers,” he said.

Dwelling on the UPA government's four years in power, he said the government had been able to initiate a slew of measures for inclusive growth due to the deep pockets created by the nine per cent GDP growth rate. “The NDA could not do it because it could not deliver economic growth,” he said.

Focusing a major part of his talk on Bangalore, the Prime Minister conveyed the message that a city that had helped shape international perceptions of India—from a land of snake charmers to a technology savvy, enterprising, modern country—had in recent years been let down by the selfish politics of parties like the JD(S) and the BJP.

“The famous garden city has overcrowded roads, rising pollution and a congested airport. And while this has been happening, other cities have been catching up, investing for the future. This needs to rectified,” he said.

“Long-term planning and the welfare of...