PTI 
 
New Delhi, Jul 27: The Left on Thursday joined hands with the Opposition in flaying the government for its "failure" to take adequate steps to check rise in prices of essential commodities saying this had rendered the life of the common man miserable.

"The government has reduced prices of car and foreign liquor like Scotch, but has increased the price of food grains," BJP deputy leader said during discussion on price spiral in Lok Sabha.

He said, "Indian farmers are being paid around Rs 700 per tonne for wheat and foreign farmers Rs 1,000."

"The Food Corporation of India [FCI] does not buy food grains deliberately to allow traders to buy it," he said.

Malhotra said if pulses were sold through forward trading in commodity exchanges, then these would cost more.

He alleged UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had asked the government not to hike prices of petrol and diesel, but the concerned minister refused any rollback. "Has she lost control over her party?" Malhotra asked.

He said the new Saral form for filing Income Tax returns was so complicated that he had to rush to a CA for assistance entailing an additional expenditure of Rs 1,000.

CPI(M) leader Basudev Acharia reminded the government that it had assured in the last session that every effort would be made to control prices, but this was invisible on the ground.

"We don't find the government has taken any concrete measure to control prices," he said, adding the poor, in particular from the unorganised sector, were compelled to spend 60-70 per cent of their income to buy wheat and rice.