"Prices are soaring and the Central government is doing nothing to check them. It is the Central government, which is solely responsible for this. In fact, the Congress lost the elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh mainly because of this," Bhattacharjee said to counter the Congress members' allegation that the chief minister was doing nothing to control the price rise.

Bhattacharjee also cast his doubt on the Rs 60,000 crore farmers' loan waiver announced in the Union Budget. He said that the loans might not be beneficial for the farmers of the state. "While nationally 27 per cent of farmers took credits from banks, in West Bengal it is 11 per cent. I don't know how far farmers will benefit from this scheme," Bhattacharjee said.

He also urged the Opposition members to join the government in its fight against the Maoists.

"Our problem is that the Maoists are well entrenched in our neighbouring state of Jharkhand and they undergo training there. Unfortunately, the Jharkhand government is not doing much to check the menace. The Maoists strike here and later flee to that state," he said.