After his meeting with the Left leaders, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asked political parties to eschew the temptation of politicising the misery of the people and warned against creating an environment of scarcity that would encourage speculators and hoarders.
He said the government was taking all necessary steps to deal with the problem and that there was no need for political parties to indulge in scare-mongering.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said: