New Delhi, (IANS) The Congress party Monday said the mandate of controlling food prices lay with the agriculture and food ministries but added that inflation was the concern of the central government too.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said that controlling prices was "a collective but  differentiated responsibility".

He said food inflation squarely falls in the mandate of the agriculture and food ministries. The two ministries are headed by Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

Responding to queries, he said the Congress has never indulged in bashing up its allies but the party was within its rights to express the concern of millions on the price rise.

Asked about Pawar's Sunday meeting with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray regarding the Indian Premier League cricket matches, Tewari said the party was not concerned about who met whom.