Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday came under sharp attack in the Lok Sabha on the issue of price rise with questions being raised on the panel's affidavit in the Supreme Court on people living below poverty line.
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said a person can get a few grams of flour, a spoon of oil and a flake of orange in Rs32, which according to Planning Commission affidavit, is enough to keep a person out of below poverty line criteria in urban areas.
Referring to Ahluwalia's interview in which he had said that if inflation does not come down by February, then 'we do not know what we are doing,’ Swaraj said she had read a book 'What they do not teach you at Havard' and after seeing the interview, she remembered the title of the book.
Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) questioned government's stand on price rise.
"...When we ask as to why there is price rise, the reply is that there is a mismatch...they are eating more. Who is saying it. It is no other person than the Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, who is very close to the Prime Minister," he initiating the debate.