The Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday opposed any petroleum price hike and demanded that the government should convene an all-party meeting before taking any decision.
The party was responding to statements by Prime Minister I K Gujral on Thursday and finance minister P Chidambaram yesterday. Both the statements stressed that a petroleum price hike was inevitable.
Since the Prime Minister has said that he will function on the basis of consensus, he should demonstrate this by calling an all-party meeting on such an important issue, BJP vice-president K L Sharma said.
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We dont agree with the policy of hiking petroleum products, Sharma said, pointing out that the preceeding government deferred the issue because of absence of a consensus within the Front.
Why should we increase the price when petroleum prices throughout the world were less compared to ours, he asked.
The BJP declared its opposition to the proposed Lok Pal and the Broadcasting Bills in their present form. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had conveyed to the Prime Minister that the bill in its present form was unacceptable to the BJP, Sharma said.
There should be a representative committee for selection of the Lok Pal in order to enhance the credibility of the institution, he said, adding that, the party would like to discuss if there should be provision for punishment for those filing false complaints.
The party has set up a three-member sub-committee to study various aspects of the legislation. The panel consisting of Ghuman Mal Lodha, Satyapal Jain and Sushil Chand Verma (all Lok Sabha MPs) would submit its report to the party by May 6, he said.
The BJP may form a sub-committee to discuss various aspects of the broadcasting bill which the party feels, would lead to foreign invasion, Sharma said.