Joining the short discussion during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, TDP member C Ramachandraiah was particularly vicious in his attack. ``The Government clearly lacks the administrative capability and the political will to control the sharp rise in prices,'' he thundered. The Government had burnt its fingers on the price rise issue but the TDP was not prepared to follow suit, he added, in less than a veiled warning.

While accusing the Government of having failed in its economic policies and causing inflation to touch the highest since 1991, the TDP member said that the controversy over the Insurance Bill only reflected the dithering approach of the Government and would send wrong signals to foreign investors.

``The incoherent and imprudent policies of the Government have brought theeconomy on the verge of collapse,'' he said, adding that the Government had failed to evolve proper strategies to combat shortages in essential commodities, especially onions.

Earlier, beginning the discussion, Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said that the first six months of the current financial year had clearly exposed the Government's inability to fulfill its economic policies. Inflation has gone up, while exports have registered a negative growth and this has led to doubling of the trade imbalance.

``The handling of the onion crisis is a reflecton of the Government's non-serious approach toward the economy...even when it knew that there was a going to be a shortage, it continued to export onions,'' he said. And when the Government was finally compelled to import onions, it paid a much higher price than what it got for its exports, he added.

Accusing the Government of giving patronage to the food mafia, Jitendra Prasada of the Congress said that never had prices gone up so sharply under any regime.The recent polls in four states was a clear example that the Government had failed on the economic front, he added.

Other members echoed the same views, alleging that the complacent attitude of the Government had made hoarders and middlemen prosper. They said that the Government was reduced to a mere spectator, as prices of essential commodities went out of reach of the common man.

In the Lok Sabha, it was the BJP's alliance partner Mamata Banerjee who led the attack on the Government on the question of rising prices. Interrupting Agriculture Minister Som Pal during his intervention on the price rise debate, Banerjee challenged the Minister's claim that the prices of mustard oil had come down.

Som Pal's intervention in the special discussion on price rise led to a lot of wrangling, with members arguing that the Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister S S Barnala should reply to the debate.