Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas T R Baalu has not attended office ever since Prime Minister I K Gujral appointed Janeshwar Mishra as the cabinet minister in charge early last week.
One of Baalus aides explained that the minister was not going to office because there was no separate chamber for him. He added that, now that arrangements had been made in this regard, Baalu would start attending office from Monday. Since Mishras appointment, Balu has been sidelined on the crucial issue of whether the prices of petroleum prices should be hiked. Balu has taken a strident stand against any hikes, in keeping with the policy of his party.
y, the DMK. It has passed a resolution asking the Centre not to go for a hike in the prices of petroleum products.
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Balu had blamed the finance ministry for the burgeoning oil pool deficit account.
In a paper prepared by his ministry which was circulated at the May 25 meeting of the United Front steering committee, Balu had asked the finance ministry to slash customs and excise duties on the import of oil. This is in keeping with the stand of some Left leaders.
After the reshuffle, Balu was not present at the steering committee meeting and did not participate in an informal parley between Prime Minister Gujral, Mishra and senior Left leaders, HK Surjeet, Jyoti Basu, Indrajit Gupta and Sitaram Yechury, on the petroleum prices issue.