BJP denies opposing pay commission

The BJP today denied states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, ruled by the party, had written to the Centre opposing the sixth pay commission.

Earlier in the day, Parliamentary affairs minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi had said some BJP-ruled states had opposed the setting up of the sixth finance commission while briefing the media on the decisions taken by the Cabinet today.

BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said, "Many states have written that when the finance commissions reccomendations are submitted, the states are to be consulted and the financial burden be shared between the Centre and the states."

He also challenged Dasmunsi to make public all the responses sent in by Congress-ruled states. "We demand the parliamentary affairs minister make public all responses by the states ruled by the Congress, since many of these states too have expressed apprehensions about the financial implications of the commission," he said. "If he does not, then he has to admit that what he said was inaccurate," he added.

'The Gujarat government had said that they wanted the issue discussed by the National Development Council, if not, then the Centre was to share 50 per cent of the financial burden of the recommendations of the commision,' he said.