Press Note Eng DT:20/08/2012 Reaction on Arun Jaitley Press
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OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION
Gujarat Vidhansabha, Gandhinagar.
Press Note 20th August, 2012
Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil today said that Rajya Sabha Member from Gujarat Shri Arun Jaitley pleaded a hollow case forGujaratbefore the media. It was as if an advocate arguing a case just on the insistence of the client, he said. Jaitley did not have any figures about the quantity of the gasGujaratgets? the rate at which it gets and the percentage of the total gas given by the Centre to all States? Referring to the media interaction of Jaitley on the issue of gas toGujarat, he said that Jaitely did not address any of the important facts in his media release. Gohil challenged Chief Minister to hold a joint media interaction to tell the truth to people ofGujarat.
In a statement, he said that Shri Arun Jaitley and Shri Saurabh Patel could not dispute the figure of allocation of gas toGujaratgiven by the Petroleum Minister yesterday. BJP has rocked Parliament on the issue of CAG report, but it is maintaining stoic silence over the fact thatGujaratgovernment was not responding to the revelation of CAG that Gujarat Government was giving gas to Adani at throw away price. Even in the High Court, Centre has maintained in an affidavit that Mumbai,Delhiand Gujarat all were given gas at the same price- 4.2USDollar per MMBTU (minus royalty). It has not been disputed anywhere. Even Gujarat Government has accepted the affidavit. How much more VAT is charged on gas inGujaratthan other States? Gohil demanded to know the difference in the basic price at which the State gets gas from the Centre and the cost at which it is distributed to the consumers. He said that the Government has anonymous advertisement in newspapers claiming that the State gets very little gas and it is like a slap on the face of the people. The fact is that the BJP which has spent lakhs of rupees on this advertisement from the State coffers has slapped common man. It is clear from today’s BJP press that the figures given by the Union Minister yesterday about gas are true. The Chief Minister has made a non Gujarati Rajya Sabha member utter total lie about the issue. If it is true then it should be supported by facts. It has been proved today that even a big counsel cannot succeed if his arguments are baseless.
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