Ms Mayawati, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Mr Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar, has blamed the ‘faulty’ economic policies of the centre for the high inflation in the country. Union minister for food and agriculture Sharad Pawar had earlier blamed the states for rising food prices in the country.

Nitish kumar said whenever congress party comes to power at the centre the prices of essential commodities go up and this tenure is no exception while Mayawati accused the centre’s policies to be under the influence of capitalists and said that they are helping ‘blackmarketers and hoarders’.

``It is clear that the Centre is working under the influence and pressure of capitalists,’’ said Mayawati, as she was under attack from the last few days because of a ban she has imposed on processing of raw sugar in the state. She however reiterated her opposition to the proposal to allow mills in her state to process imported raw sugar even after a request from Sharad Pawar for invoking the ban.

She said that the ban was to protect cane growers and the state government will not allow the processing of raw sugar by the mills in the state until all cane is crushed.

She blamed the centre for the high sugar prices as it failed to take timely and appropriate actions to control prices and said that the union ministers were encouraging hoarders and blackmarketeers by making irresponsible statements. “The prices are soaring mainly because of the defective economic, import and export policies of the Centre, ’’ she added.

RJD head Lalu Prasad said that his party was going to launch agitation against price-rise from February 18 until prices come down to the levels prevailing six months ago.

The congress party on the other hand said that the UP government’s stand is becoming an obstacle in dealing with the problem of price rise.

"She is proving to be the biggest obstacle in the Centre's way of bringing down the sugar prices," said party spokesman Manish Tiwari.

The centre also blamed Mayawati of playing politics and ignoring the plight of the ordinary people.