Pressure mounted on Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, as thousands of workers marched in the capital to protest against inflation.
The opposition has been seeking to capitalise on the weakening position of Mr Singh, who is reeling from a spate of corruption scandals that threaten to undermine his reputation for integrity. His ability to manage the economy is also being called into question as India battles the highest inflation of any major Asian economy.
Wednesday’s march of daily wage labourers, organised by the leftist Centre of Indian Trade Unions, highlighted concerns that Mr Singh had failed to control inflation and that his ruling Congress party was not delivering on its promise of “inclusive growth”, but instead excluding all but a few from the benefits of fast economic growth.