Jaitley cooks gas theory on Gujarat
21 Aug 2012 6:55 AM IST
The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said on Monday that his party would take up the alleged discrimination of the centre towards Gujarat over the allocation of domestic gas. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that the centre offers cooking gas to Ahmedabad consumers at a much higher rate that what it offers to Mumbai and Delhi consumers.
Earlier, the union minister R P Singh had said that there was no discrimination against Ahmedabad and blamed the high price of consumer gas on the middlemen indulged by the Gujarat government. Jaitley denied that this was the case and said that it was a fact that the domestic gas users in Ahmedabad had to pay more because the union government did not supply the gas at same rate as in the case of Mumbai and Delhi. 'We are going to raise this issue if need be in Parliament, since Gujarat high court has also directed the centre to follow a principle of parity,' Jaitley said.
The Gujarat minister of state for industries Saurabh Patel said that the union minister had issued misleading statement and the state would continue to demand parity, which had won endorsement from the high court.
Meanwhile, while referring to the exodus of Northeastern migrants from big cities, Jaitley said that the BJP had been pursuing the issue the day it originated after the Bangladesh war, but the
Congress party had not done much on it. He said, 'The origin of the rumours has been traced to Pakistan. The BJP will support the UPA coalition taking up the matter with the neighbouring nation.'
Jaitley held a series of meetings with the state BJP leaders about the ensuing assembly election. He conducted the state BJP manifesto meeting and other meetings with the party's media cell. Jaitley has been looking after the assembly elections in the state, as he is considered a close confidante of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and has camped in the state during the past elections as well.
Earlier, the union minister R P Singh had said that there was no discrimination against Ahmedabad and blamed the high price of consumer gas on the middlemen indulged by the Gujarat government. Jaitley denied that this was the case and said that it was a fact that the domestic gas users in Ahmedabad had to pay more because the union government did not supply the gas at same rate as in the case of Mumbai and Delhi. 'We are going to raise this issue if need be in Parliament, since Gujarat high court has also directed the centre to follow a principle of parity,' Jaitley said.
The Gujarat minister of state for industries Saurabh Patel said that the union minister had issued misleading statement and the state would continue to demand parity, which had won endorsement from the high court.
Meanwhile, while referring to the exodus of Northeastern migrants from big cities, Jaitley said that the BJP had been pursuing the issue the day it originated after the Bangladesh war, but the
Congress party had not done much on it. He said, 'The origin of the rumours has been traced to Pakistan. The BJP will support the UPA coalition taking up the matter with the neighbouring nation.'
Jaitley held a series of meetings with the state BJP leaders about the ensuing assembly election. He conducted the state BJP manifesto meeting and other meetings with the party's media cell. Jaitley has been looking after the assembly elections in the state, as he is considered a close confidante of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and has camped in the state during the past elections as well.
BJP TO TARGET PM ON COAL BLOCK AUCTION
Today’ s Parliament session is expected to be stormy, with the Bharatiya Janata Party expected to raise the findings of the CAG on the alleged scam in coal block allocation and two other issues. The decision to stall both the houses over the CAG reports was taken at the parliamentary committee meeting of the party on Monday. The party leaders said that they would press for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation.
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