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Jaya attacks Vajpayee for hike in cooking gas price

All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalitha, a key ally of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, lashed out at the Centre on Monday for increasing the prices of cooking gas and essentials like rice, wheat, sugar and urea.

In a strongly worded statement in Madras, she pulled up the Bharatiya Janata Party, dominant partner in the ruling coalition at the Centre, for taking important decisions without consulting its partners and appealed for a rollback of the prices of rice, wheat and sugar.

The haste in raising the price of liquefied petroleum gas on Sunday, without discussing it at the co-ordination committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday, proved that the meeting "was a mere eyewash", she said.

The BJP spokespersons were against the coalition partners expressing their views publicly, she noted, adding that Defence Minister George Fernandes, convenor of the co-ordination committee, had said Tuesday's meeting was meant to enable the partners to put forth their suggestions about the Budget.

"What precisely was the urgency to hike the prices of these essential commodities before the meeting?" she asked.

Jayalalitha said major economic measures before the budget, which is to be presented on February 27, are "not ethical and set a very bad precedent".

She said the coalition partners would have to face the wrath of the people as the Centre's decision affects the interests of the poor and the middle class.

The Centre could go in for divestment in several public-sector undertakings that are incurring heavy losses and encourage private participation to revive the economy, she suggested.

UNI

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