New Delhi, Jan. 5: P. Chidambaram spoke on inflation, Pranab Mukherjee on Telangana.

The home minister and the finance minister swapped responsibilities for a brief while on the eve of the expected disclosure of the report on the statehood demand that has Andhra Pradesh and other aspirants on their toes.

“Not sure whether we understand all the factors that contribute to price rise. Nor am I sure whether we have at our hand all the tools to control inflation,” Chidambaram said.

However, he added: “Some say we do, some say we don’t. At least in the case of food inflation, I have not heard any one arguing convincingly that we have all the tools to control food inflation.”

A former finance minister, Chidambaram is well within his right to comment on prices but the comments did raise the eyebrows of some Congress leaders at a time the UPA is confronting the price demon again.

Before the surprise could subside, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was deputed to manage the complex Telangana crisis. Last year, it was Chidambaram who had made the late-night announcement that was construed by Telangana supporters as an assurance that a state would be formed.

Such an interpretation had triggered a polarisation in Andhra and prompted several aspirants elsewhere, such as in Darjeeling, to harden their stand and demand immediate statehood.

Pranab’s assignment is being seen as a cautious move by Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh in their larger concern about the possibility of extreme reactions to the Srikrishna Committee report that looked into the Telangana demand.

The party now wants to defuse the crisis by putting off a decision. Pranab, along with Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, today met MPs from the Telangana region.

The government is hoping to delay substantive decisions and will like to keep the stakeholders engaged for the next few months.

Although the Centre is not in favour of immediate bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, it does not have too many options as two of the main players — the TRS and the TDP — are unwilling to play ball with the Congress and public sentiment in the Telangana region is perceived to be in favour of a separate state.

The TRS and the TDP have said they will boycott tomorrow’s meeting with the Union home minister.

Pranab asked the MPs from the Telangana region to stay calm and not to rush to conclusions tomorrow.