High inflation to play a role in Lok Sabha elections?

It was said high inflation was one of the primary factors behind the defeat of the Congress in four Assembly elections last year - in Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Ahead of the general elections this year, Consumer Price Index-based inflation fell to a two-year low of 8.10 per cent in February.

At the state level, however, inflation isn't uniform; it ranges from 4.87 per cent to 15.48 per cent. In the case of 15 states, which together account for about half the total Lok Sabha seats (261 out of 543), inflation was higher than the national average. These include Uttar Pradesh (80 seats), Bihar (40), West Bengal (42), Odisha (21) and Kerala (20). In the case of northeastern states, inflation was the highest in Tripura, followed by Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam. The northeastern state of Manipur recorded the lowest inflation in the country.

In Gujarat, the home state of Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, inflation was lower than the national average. Experts say the factors governing inflation at the state level include the development pattern in the state concerned, infrastructure, the consumption pattern of various items, whether the state has a rural or urban set-up and whether it is a food-producing state or not. Would inflation be the issue again in the 2014 general elections?