New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI): Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today reeled out statistics in Lok Sabha to assert that the NDA government had brought down inflation and expressed hope that prices of essential commodites will come down further after a "good" monsoon.
After Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that the government had failed to control prices, particularly of the essential commodities, Jaitley contended that the NDA government had inherited high inflation from the UPA dispensation.
"Any form of bluster is not substitute of statistics," he told the Congress Vice President while intervening in a debate on price rise and asked him to compare the status of inflation during the UPA government and that prevailing now.
Referring to Gandhi's attack on Modi for criticising the then Congress-led government over inflation in February 2014, Jaitley said, "This is a topic of statistics and not sloganeering. The UPA had left government in a serious state and it is but natural that any contesting candidate before election would say that if I come to power, I will try to bring inflation down. No one should have any objection to that."
Insisting that the Modi government had reduced inflation and kept it under control, the Finance Minister said he expects it to reduce further with a "good" monsoon.
He acknowledged that high prices of pulses is a concern and said steps are being taken to address this by narrowing the mismatch between demand and supply.
Noting that India has the highest production along with highest consumption of pulses, he said while the demand is for 23 million tonnes, the production was 17 million tonnes, leaving a gap of six million tonnes.
The output of pulses is expected to go up to 20 million tonnes this crop year, Jaitley said, adding steps are also being taken by the Food Ministry to create a buffer of 20 lakh tonnes of pulses to keep the prices under control.
He also criticised Gandhi for asking the Prime Minister to set a date by when the prices will come down, saying issues are settled through policies rather than giving dates.
The government is working on policies to encourage farmers to produce more and India is moving towards self sufficiency in pulses produce, he said.
"You are talking about a government which left behind double digit inflation and today we have a situation where steps have been taken in each sector to contain inflation. Any form of bluster is not a substitute for statistics. These are backed by hard facts," Jaitley said.
Jaitley said the monthly statistics shows the pulses inflation is coming down and asked Rahul Gandhi not to look for corruption angle in the rise of prices of pulses, which he said occurred due to rise in costs globally besides two consecutive years of drought.
"Even today the corruption scandals that emerge are those of UPAs and not NDA... We have contained inflation despite having two years of drought. Good monsoon helps economy and with good monsoon this year, I expect that the prices of will come down," Jaitley said.
He said the UPA had left the economy in a dire state, with Consumer Price Index (CPI) and food inflation at double digit, WPI inflation around 6-7 per cent and growth prospects were limited.
He cautioned UPA against indulging in "back of envelop calculations" regarding economic data stating it will only be "misleading".
Taking a jibe at Gandhi for quoting market prices of essential commodities, Jaitley said in a lighter vein, "everybody in this House seems to be claiming to go to market everyday".
He said in 2012-13 and 2013-14, which were the last two years of UPA regime, were marked by increasing prices and inflation data looked grim.
Earlier report
Give a date by when pulses price will decline: Rahul to Modi
New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI): Launching an offensive against the Prime Minister over price rise, Rahul Gandhi today said after coming to power Narendra Modi has not said anything on the issue and demanded that he give a date by when the prices of pulses will come down.
"You may make as many hollow promises as you want, but give us a date by when the prices of daal will come down," Gandhi said in Lok Sabha during a debate on price rise.
In his first major intervention in the monsoon session, Gandhi said the price of pulses and vegetables have gone over the roof after the NDA came to power and the farmers have not been able to get any benefit of the steep rise in the price of these commodities.
Recalling Modi's speech at a poll rally in Himachal Pradesh in February 2014, Gandhi said while attacking the then UPA government over the issue, he had said said that 'ma- bachche raat raat rote hain, aasoon pee ke sote hain' (mother and child cry the whole night and sleep drinking the tears).
"What a dialogue," Gandhi said thrice, taking a dig at Modi who was not present in the House.
"I want to remind the Prime Minister of the promises he made to the people of the country during the poll campaign, which Modiji does not talk about now and has forgotten. He had also promised that when the BJP government comes to power, it will bring down the prices," Gandhi said.
Listing out the prices of vegetables and pulses, Gandhi said in 2014, the price of tomato was Rs 18, which has shot up to Rs 55 in 2016. Urad and tur dal, priced at Rs 70 and 75 in February 2014, has gone up to Rs 160 and Rs 180 this month.
He said there was a gap between the minimum support price for tur dal given to the farmers was Rs 45 whereas its price in the market was Rs 75. Now, the MSP has risen to Rs 50, but the price of the pulses was now Rs 180.
"So, there is a gap of Rs 130 in the NDA government. Where is this Rs 100 going," Gandhi asked.
"During elections, Modiji had said 'make me a chowkidar' (watchman). Now, there is a theft of dal under the very nose of the chowkidar. But the chowkidar has not uttered a word. He is mum. ... Now he has become a big person. Leave that job of chowkidari to the Congress," Gandhi said.
In reference to a BJP slogan 'Har Har Modi' used during the Lok Sabha polls, he said "now people are saying 'Arhar Modi'."
Taking a jibe at the NDA's second "happy birthday" celebrations, the Congress Vice President said the Prime Minister did not even utter a single word about rising prices during this event and sought to know why he did that.
Accusing the government of waiving off Rs 52,000 crore of the corporates, Gandhi asked what benefit the government has given to the farmers and housewives of the savings amounting Rs 2 lakh crore it has made from the slump in the crude prices.
He also questioned the NDA's flagship programmes like Make in India, Stand Up India and said "the 'Make in India' programme has not got given a single job to the youth."