Thirucananthapuram/New Delhi/Bangalore: May 5, 2008 -  The collective outrage of political parties against US president George Bush’s statement linking India’s prospering middle class and rise in food prices worldwide refused to die down on Sunday.

Defence minister A K Antony termed as a "cruel joke" president Bush’s contention that growing demand for foodgrains in India was the reason for spiralling global food prices.

Bush had said prosperity in countries like India is good but it triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads to higher food prices. Largescale conversion of agriculture land for commercial and bio-fuel cultivation purposes has resulted in food shortage at the global level, Antony told reporters. "Policies of USA were also responsible for foodgrain shortage," he said. Those who criticize should not set apart agriculture land for other purposes. The countries, including America, should rectify their mistakes, he said.

The BJP slammed the government’s silence on the issue and said it would raise the issue in Parliament on Monday. "PM Manmohan Singh is behaving like an officer on deputation. He has been a total failure on domestic as well as foreign fronts. He has got only a few days left in office and at least he should now stand up to protect the country’s honour," senior party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, while asking the government to give an appropriate reply to Bush.

He said the US president was trying to assume the role of a "bread inspector" from his earlier role of world’s "bomb inspector" by making such irresponsible statements. "America has no right to speak about what India eats. India will not accept such interference. The government should take serious note of US president’s statement and give a strong reply," he said.

In Bangalore, BJP president Rajnath Singh dismissed Bush’s statement as "totally absurd".

"The interpretation (by Bush) is totally absurd," Singh said. "It has been proved time and again that the moment the Congress comes to power, the prices of all essential commodities start moving upwards. Therefore, it is pertinent to ask Congress a question that why it has become synonymous with high rate of inflation and spiralling prices," Singh said.

The CPI, meanwhile, described Bush’s remark as a "baseless assessment". "The statement of Bush and US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is a radical and baseless assessment," CPI national deputy secretary Sudhakar Reddy said. agencies