New Delhi: The Left parties, which have announced nationwide agitations on price rise later this month, have blamed the government for failing to check the rising inflation graph and trashed the argument about price rise being a "global phenomenon".

"Government is looking towards god... The rain god (for increasing agricultural production). The global factor argument is an excuse. You (government) are importing the global factor.

"...If you have your own public distribution system which subsidises foodgrains and essential commodities that are purchased by the common people. By this, they will be insulated from the global factors," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said here.

Reacting to the latest rise in the inflation rate, his party colleague D Raja said despite "tall claims by Finance Minister P Chidambaram with respect to fiscal and monetary measures, inflation rate is going up. It shows the government's failure. How are they going to balance between GDP growth rate and inflation".

Raja also demanded a review of the Fiscal Regulation and Budget Management Act saying there was no rationale to have such a law in a developing economy.

The CPI(M) has already given a call for a mass picketing in front of the Central Government offices all over the country on May 15, barring Karnataka where elections are being held.

The party has maintained that the government's "refusal" to put curbs on private companies buying food grains and prohibiting forward trading in 25 agricultural commodities, "reveals the bias of the Union Government in favour of big business and trading companies at the expense of the people's interest".

Source : PTI