NEW DELHI, 3 May 2008 — A nationwide strike against inflation called yesterday by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) evoked a mixed response in most parts of the country, including the capital New Delhi and BJP-ruled states. Ahead of the strike, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of failing to control the rise in prices. “Three weeks after the government announced a set of measures to curb prices, inflation has not declined,” he said.
Increase in prices of food articles such as rice, milk, tea, vegetables and some manufactured products has led to 42-month high inflation of 7.57 percent for the week ended April 19, in comparison to 7.33 percent in the preceding week. A year ago, the wholesale price-based inflation stood at 6.07 percent.
Assuring the nation that prices will come down, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said: “The inflation will be tamed, food prices will come down sooner than other prices.” He was speaking on the sidelines of a function in Bangalore. The government has already procured 15.4 million tons of wheat and 2.3 million tons of rice, he said. “People need to have patience and have faith in the government,” he said.
The right-wing BJP called yesterday’s strike to take political advantage of widespread anger over the rising prices. as a perfect opportunity to turn the common people against the UPA, yesterday’s strike was called. The issues of inflation, incompetence and internal security would be the main plank of BJP’s electoral campaign in the forthcoming general elections, according to party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
In the capital, while traders in some areas kept their shops closed, in others there seemed to be practically no impact of the strike on routine, normal activities. Traders in wholesale and commercial markets kept their shutters down in protest against continuing sealing by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which they said is in violation of statutory provisions of the MCD Act. The main body of Delhi traders - Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) - backed the strike.
“The entry of big corporate houses is yet another major factor for inflation as such groups hoard large stocks of commodities in their big warehouses to keep uninterrupted supply to their chain of retail stores,” CAIT leader Praveen Khandelwal said.
In Ahmedabad, the capital of the BJP-ruled western state of Gujarat, many shops and establishments remained open and functioned normally. In Himachal Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, however, the capital Shimla wore a deserted look. While some big shops and business establishments remained closed in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa state, factories and financial institutions were open. Orissa is governed by the National Democratic Alliance, of which the BJP is a part. In Jaipur, BJP-ruled Rajasthan’s capital, shops and business establishments were closed and even the roads were deserted.
