Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda shares a point with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a rally in Ambala on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Ambala, October 7
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured the country that the prices of essential commodities would come down soon as “the most difficult time is about to end.”

Manmohan Singh, who had come here to seek votes for Congress nominees contesting seats under the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency, addressed the concerns of the common man on shooting prices, particularly those of grains, edible oils and vegetables.

He said he was aware of the hardships being faced by the common man due to the increase in the prices of essential commodities in the past few months. He attributed the inflation to high prices of eatables in the international market and the failure of the monsoon. He said the government had made a hefty hike in the minimum support price of foodgrains to benefit farmers. This had also led to the rise in the prices of eatables.

The Prime Minister said with the prospects of rabi looking good and because of various steps taken by the government, the prices would start falling soon.

He said the people of Haryana needed a government which could take further the good work done in the past five years and which worked in tandem with the Centre to accelerate development in the state.

“Only a Congress government can do that,” he emphasised. He took the opportunity to congratulate Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for not only implementing central schemes for farmers, but also his own initiatives in this regard.

A large number of Sikhs, who constituted a sizeable number of the audience, raised “jaikaras” when Manmohan Singh rose to speak. Conscious of the presence of farmers among the crowd, Manmohan Singh started with expressing concern over their plight due to the less than average monsoon this year. The Centre and the state were working jointly to mitigate their sufferings, he said. Hooda and Union Minister Selja, the local MP, also addressed the rally. Manmohan Singh spent about 45 minutes at the venue. The audience consisted mostly of men, with woman abstaining on account of Karva Chauth.