The Congress has identified three issues -- drought, price rise and swine flu -- for the UPA Government to tackle in the next few months. The party is aware that Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh are round the corner and the Opposition can take advantage by making these poll issues. Ironically, the party is also trying to distance itself from the Government, expecting it to handle these issues on a war-footing.

When the UPA began its second term, the Congress was upbeat after a creditable victory in the Lok Sabha election. Riding to power on the slogan of `aam admi' , the party and the Government are now in a quandary as how to deal with price rise and drought which directly affect the common man. Adding to the Government's woes is the recent observation of the Supreme Court which has described the situation as "terrible" and wanted the Government to tackle it effectively. While the wholesale price index remains negative, prices of essential commodities have shot up in the past few months. The Reserve Bank of India, while updating the monetary policy for the fiscal year, has warned that the inflation could even slip further due to lower monsoon.

Rising prices of food items dominated the just concluded Parliament session when the Opposition gheraoed the Government over the issue. The proverbial `dal, roti' is no more within the reach of the common man as prices of pulse, sugar and other commodities and vegetables are touching sky. No Government can afford to ignore this situation.

The Government should not only think of short-term measures to contain price rise but also chalk out a long-term strategy. In spite of high gross domestic product growth, the production of essential commodities have not gone up. Pulses and sugarcane have showed severe shortage of supply. The production of vegetable oil and paddy are also causing concern.

Source: The Pioneer Tough Times For UPA