Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni today accussed the BJP led Opposition of remaining absent from crucial discussions like price rise in Parliament.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Mrs Soni said that government has taken several initiatives to tackle inflation and the results will be visible in coming months. She said that the Opposition is only interested in making statements and not suggesting meaningful measures to tackle the problem. Mrs Soni added that the Opposition is not allowing the government to respond to debates in Parliament.

The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said the opposition should participate in discussions in the House instead of creating pandemonium. He added that the State Governments are equally responsible for price rise.

The Opposition on the other hand blamed the government of being unsuccessful in dealing with inflation. CPI leader Gurudas Das Gupta said that the statement made by the Finance Minister is rhetoric and does not suggest any effective measure.

BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussein said that the statement made by Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha today is misleading