New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) The Congress suggestion that Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar has the main responsibility to check food inflation is a 'mockery of the collective system of responsibility in the cabinet', an angry Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said Tuesday.

Responding to Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari's remarks about Pawar's 'differentiated responsibility', NCP leader D.P. Tripathi said, 'This will make mockery of the collective system of responsibility in the cabinet'.

'Congress should desist from making such remarks,' Tiwari told IANS.

'If the food minister is responsible for rise in food prices, then the housing minister is responsible for rise in prices of houses, textiles minister for hike in prices of clothes, transport minister for increase in fares and health minister for hike in price of medicines,' he maintained.

The Congress remarks about 'collective but differentiated reponsibility' came a day after Pawar went to meet Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray at his residence to discuss the Indian Premier League cricket matches in Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena had said it would not allow Australian cricket players to play in Mumbai following attacks on Indian students in that country.

The Congress has been critical of linguistic politics of the Shiv Sena and the central government said Sunday that the Maharashtra government will act firmly against the Sena's 'divisive agenda'.