New Delhi, July 7 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday held the previous Congress-led UPA government solely responsible for the price rise, saying that the party which brought the economy to this state, now wants put the blame on someone else today.

"Even we are concerned about price rise, and hence, we had no hesitation in discussing the issue in Parliament. What surprises me is that the party which brought the economy to this state, wants to put the blame on someone else today," said Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha.

"What is the basis to say that we are responsible for price rise. Our policies have not yet been implemented," he added.

Asserting that inflation has risen to unprecedented levels under the stewardship of the BJP-led Government, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had earlier in the day said that prices were never so high when the UPA regime was in office between 2004 and 2014.

"If UPA raised prices, it was done gradually. But, in the last one-and-a-half months, prices have skyrocketed," said Azad during a Budget Session intervention in the Rajya Sabha.

"Prices are rising all over India. The prices of diesel, cooking gas have gone up. Diesel affects other commodities. Food inflation has gone from 8 percent to 9.5 percent in just a month and half. Rice, eggs, tomatoes, milk, dals, coconut everything is costing more," he added.

The 42-day-long Budget Session of Parliament began today and will have 28 sittings.

During this period, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government's first Railway and General Budgets on July 8 and July 10 respectively.

The Economic Survey will be released on July 9. The session will end on August 14. (ANI)