“It’s very easy to put the Central government in the dock for the price hike. Prices of things like rice, wheat, pulses, petroleum have increased manifold in the international market. The central government is doing its best to check price rise,” she said.

“But the state governments cannot absolve themselves of their responsibility in this regard. They must take action against hoarders. They should also keep the public distribution system alive by sending their own share of cereals to the central pool,” Gandhi said.

She was addressing a rally at the Hatimara ground at Malda in north Bengal, home of the late Congress leader ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury.

The Congress president was accompanied by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai and a host of other leaders.

She paid rich tributes to Ghani Khan Choudhury for his contribution to the development of West Bengal.

“The absence of Ghani Khan Choudhury is always felt. All through his life he worked for the welfare of people,” she said.

She later visited Choudhury’s house at Kotwali and after praying at his tomb, planted a sapling of Choudhury’s favourite mango variety. After lunch at his house, she flew back to Delhi en route Purnea in Bihar.

With Malda being a district dominated by Muslims, Sonia did not miss the opportunity to criticise West Bengal’s Left Front government for the poor report card on the status of minorities handed out by the Justice Sachar committee.

“It is unfortunate that the condition of the minorities did not improve even though the CPM government has been in power for the last 30 years,” Gandhi said.

Earlier, at another rally, at Baharampur in Murshidabad, she had criticised the West Bengal government for its role at Nandigram.

“At Nandigram, the state government tortured people including women and children. But I must remind the people of Nandigram that Congress will always be with them,”’ the party president said.

At Malda, she exhorted Congressmen to be vigilant about the implementation of Central projects like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.