Parties protest against price rise

Left parties were joined on Tuesday by Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Telugu Desam Party in Parliament in their protest the government's 'inaction' in checking rising prices of foodgrain and other essential items.

Members of these parties staged a sit-in at the main gate of the Parliament House and were joined by top leaders like Sitaram Yechury, Basudeb Acharia (both Communist Party of India-Marxist), Lalu Prasad (RJD), M V Mysura Reddy (TDP), D Raja (Communist Party of India) and Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD).

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav joined the protest in the Lok Sabha and, along with Left leaders, demanded suspension of the Question Hour to take up a discussion on the issue.

The House was adjourned for about 20 minutes and later parliamentary affairs minister P K Bansal said a structured discussion on the price situation would take place on Wednesday.

In the Rajya Sabha, finance minister Pranab Mukherejee and minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Prithviraj Chavan assured Yechury that a discussion would be held after passage of the Finance Bill.

"This is the single-most important issue affecting the daily lives of the people in the country and the government has not taken any concrete action so far. We have been demanding a stop to future and speculative trading in foodgrains for so long, but no step has been taken," Yechury told PTI later.