NEW DELHI: Soaring prices may be a major poll issue with the cost of living shooting up between two general elections in 18 months.
While all the political parties agree that price rise would be a poll issue they differ on the importance that would be given to it.
Price of rice wheat and sugars as well as kerosene have gone up marginally in fair price shops over the last 20 months but there has been a steeper rise in the open market prices. Available data show that retail prices of rice wheat sugar vanaspati groundnut oil and tea have risen between 25 and more than 100%.
At the national level the Congress (10 though mainly banking on the issue of stability does not miss an opportunity to blame the Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (S) for the price rise
The party leaders have declared that appropriate steps would be taken to bring down prices and tone up the economy.
Prior to the 1989 elections retail price of free sale sugar: Rs 20 per kg in cities like Mardas and became a poll issue for the opposition parties.
All political parties in Tamil Nadu agree that price rise would i be an inevitable issue in’ May poll. But the state vice president of the CPI (M) Fe affiliated center for Indian trade unions Mr. Vaidyanathan Feels that “general problem of price rise had not acquired a sharp focus as an election issue in the state in past.”
S.S.Thyagarajan member of the state secretariat of communist party of India says though: price rise was a basic issue there were other issues that would take precedence in the polls.
A report from Calcutta says that the gulf war had further aggravated the price situation in the state leading to the disappearance of most essential commodities from the market.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 19, 1991
