# Congress asks PM Modi to focus on inflation, not ‘Mann Ki Baat’ 2026-10-26T09:27:01+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets The Congress on Monday, 26 October 2026, attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over rising food prices ahead of Diwali. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared media reports on X citing the RBI to say prices of several food items are rising, and another report that dry fruit prices had surged by ₹10 to ₹300 per kg ahead of the festival. Ramesh cited government data showing onion prices up 85% and sugar up 34% over the last four months. Over the past twelve months, tomato, arhar dal and chana dal prices rose 8.5%, 3.5% and 3.1% respectively. He said that real inflation-adjusted income has stagnated or declined over the last decade and asked the PM to set aside his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme and address household concerns. The government has dismissed the claims and pointed to GDP figures. The Congress has been repeatedly flagging price rises and accusing the government of anti-people policies. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The three sources are substantively uniform. All report the Congress attack through Jairam Ramesh's X posts, name the same price figures and the same demand that PM Modi set aside ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The only difference is length: The Hindu and India Today give full quotes including the 85% onion and 34% sugar figures, while Mid-Day omits those details and gives a shorter round-up. All three carry the same Congress charge and the same one-line government rebuttal pointing to GDP. No source independently verifies the price claims or reports a government counter beyond the dismissal. The coverage is straight reportage of a political exchange, the balanced reading is that the news is the attack itself, not an adjudicated fact. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral - thehindu.com (neutral report) Full text of Congress price figures, straight reportage - mid-day.com (neutral report) Brief summary, omits detailed price numbers - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Full text with attribution to PTI, closing exchange note This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Indian National Congress, Jairam Ramesh, Mann Ki Baat, Narendra Modi, Reserve Bank of India Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/congress-asks-pm-modi-to-focus-on-inflation-not-mann-ki-baat/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/congress-asks-pm-modi-to-focus-on-inflation-not-mann-ki-baat/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/