The UPA government came under the mat for the 13-year-high in inflation with both its outside supporter Left and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party saying it was a "direct result" of hiking fuel prices steeply and "faulty" policies.
With inflation rising to a new high, BJP on Friday blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram for the situation and suggested that they quit.
"BJP, on behalf of the nation, requests the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to spare the country of their illustrious service," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
Noting that inflation has touched a 13-year high of 11.05 per cent, Rudy said "this team of economic managers (comprising Singh and Chidambaram) has broken their own record set during the Narasimha Rao government (between 1991 and 1996).
Accusing Chidambaram of "failure" in managing the economy, the BJP spokesman charged that the Finance Minister's measures have "defied all economic logic".
Taking potshots at the Finance Minister, he said Chidambaram had asserted in one of his budget speeches -- "Main Hoon Na" (I am here to help). "BJP would like to ask where is he now when the nation and particularly the common man is suffering," Rudy said.
With the government grappling how to deal with the double-digit inflation, a worried Congress asked the government to take some "hard steps" to rein in price rise even if they hurt the growth rate.
BJP slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram for the situation and suggested they quit while the CPI targeted Chidambaram saying he should be sacked since all his measures to deal with the runway inflation were a "total failure."
"Ask the government," shot back CPI(M) general decretary Prakash Karat when asked for his comments as he sarcastically said government must "further increase" fuel prices.
The CPI-M Politburo came out with a statement saying mounting inflation was "a direct result of the steep increase effected by the government in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas."
Similar reactions also came in from Left leaders of CPI, RSP and FB who blamed the government's economic policies.
Maintaining that the government had "refused" to adopt the measures suggested by the Left parties like universalizing PDS and banning forward trading in essential items, the CPI-M Politburo said the government was not willing to do away with the "inequitous" taxation structure and the import parity pricing of petroleum products.
Squarely blaming Chidambaram for his "failure" in managing the economy, the BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy charged that his measures have "defied all economic logic".
The BJP was also joined by JD(U) in seeking the minister's resignation. BJP president Rajnath Singh proposed that an all party meeting be immediately convened.