The BJP on Tuesday made scathing attack on the government for its alleged failure to control prices and accused it of being insensitive to the needs of the common man.Initiating a discussion in the house on the inflationary pressures on the economy and its adverse impact on the common man , the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj said that although the UPA government came back to power on the plank of common man but instead of providing relief , it has added to his burden by hiking the prices of petroleum products including coooking gas and kerosene that is used by the poor.Quoting the profit figures of the Oil majors in the public sector, Mrs Swaraj rejected the government's claim that these companies would be suffering losses to the tune of Rs. 53,000 crore due to the recent increase in petroleum products. She suggested that a revenue neutral regime should be introduced and there should be flat tax on the petroleum products replacing the system of percentage based calculations.She also pointed out that while lakhs of tonnes of wheat was rotting in the rains in the open due to inadequate storage facilities of FCI , the centre was refusing to meet the demand of the states for more food grains for public distribution.Strongly defending the UPA policies , Sandip Dixit of the Congress said that the government has taken several steps to tame inflation and the prices have started declining. Rejecting the BJP charge that UPA government was insensitive to the poor , Mr Dixit spoke about various flag ship programmes initiated by the government. He also said that it is the UPA which has taken initiatives to give a boost to the agriculture sector which he said had been neglected by the NDA regime.Describing the government policies as anti people, the Samajawadi party leader Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav said that not only the common man but even the middle class is suffering from the impact of rising prices of essential commodities.Taking part in the debate Mr Yadav said that the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing and only a small percentage of people are benefitting from government policies. Calling for effective measures to check hoarding and black marketeering , Mr Yadav wanted to know the number of raids conducted and defaulters prosecuted. . He also wanted the MSP for the farmers on various products to be increased.AIR correspondent says the several suggestions on streamlining of the PDS , stringent measures against black marketeers and hoarders and increase in agriculture production also came up during the marathon discussion which lasted about eight hours. The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee will reply to the discussion on Wednesday