Press Statement issued by BJP National Spokesperson
Sh. Prakash Javadekar

1. The BJP opposes the current petroleum price hike, which is sure to further trigger inflationary trends. It is unfortunate that when international crude oil prices have started to sober down, the government has gone ahead with this increase that should have been averted. This is the 8th petroleum price hike thrust by Congress led UPA government upon the hapless aam admi, and this move will also adversely impact the economy. Instead of the opting for a price hike, the government should have considered the Expenditure Finance Commission recommendation of revenue neutralisation. It is ironical that the Indian customer is being asked to pay more, although he is already paying the highest petrol prices in the world, if compared on a Purchasing Power Parity Index (PPP).

During the NDA regime, in May 2004 the price of petrol in New Delhi was Rs. 30.25 per liter, and today under four years of UPA misrule, the price has escalated by over 50% to Rs. 45.52 per liter. The Diesel price in May 2004 was Rs. 20.49 per liter, and now it also up by about 50% to Rs 31.48 per liter. How can the aam admi ever accept such a whopping escalation of a commodity that directly triggers the upward movement of all items of daily use?

The tax burden in the prices of petroleum products is well above 50%. This is the highest tax regime in the world. The government seeks to profiteer with every increase in petroleum prices at the cost of inflationary impact. The BJP has already forewarned the government to adopt a policy of revenue neutralization before taking any decision on price hikes. The revenue earnings from the petroleum sector was to the tune of about Rs. 70,000 crores in 2004. Last year the government has earned more than Rs. 1,40,000 crores. This profiteering by the government from the oil sector is criminal injustice heaped upon the common man. This increase once again exposes the UPA's anti-people policies.

BJP National President Shri Rajnath Singh today said that the party will launch a nation wide campaign to protest the current hike in petroleum prices.

2. The Congress led UPA government is committed towards one objective – to destroy each and every constitutional authority in the country for its own narrow political gain. Media reports of rumblings in the Election Commission on the issue of notice to Smt Sonia Gandhi have only reconfirmed our worst apprehension that the Election Commission might be under partisan influence from within. On the matter of issuing notices to Smt. Sonia Gandhi the split has become wide open.

The partisan approach within the EC became evident given the undue haste witnessed in the arranging of the bye-election for re-induction of Smt. Sonia Gandhi and the parallel tardiness and reluctance displayed in the bye election being arranged for a chief Minister to continue in office. The politicization of the EC became more apparent in the "maut ka saudagar" controversy – the double standards witnessed initially in the serving of notices and the subsequent differentiated language used in the expression of displeasure to the concerned leaders.

The Election Commission should be politically detached and equi-distanced from all political parties. If the practice of appointing partisan persons as member of the EC gets established as a precedent, it will provide a temptation for future governments to pack the Election Commission with its own team of servile sycophants.

(Shyam Jaju)
Office Incharge