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Take steps to bring down prices: Gehlot to Raje

JAIPUR: Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has asked Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to stop blaming the Centre for the failures of the State Government and take steps to bring down prices induced by the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products. He accused Ms. Raje of playing politics with the petrol prices in an election year by not reducing the heavy taxes levied by the State.

“After proving a failure on all the fronts in the past four years and a half, the Raje Government faces certain defeat in the coming elections in the State. That is what is provoking Ms. Raje to blame the Centre and the Congress for everything which went wrong during her tenure including the recent bomb blasts in Jaipur, inflation, petroleum prices and even the Gujjar agitation,” he said in a statement .

The prices of essential items could have been brought down if the State Government had initiated steps to curb black marketing and streamlined the public distribution system, Mr. Gehlot said. Moreover, the Rajasthan Government was still levying taxes amounting to Rs.16 per litre on petrol, Rs.8 per litre on diesel and Rs.14 per cooking gas cylinder, he pointed out. This was when on an appeal from Congress president Sonia Gandhi the party-ruled States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi provided relief bringing down taxes.

Even after the BJP-ruled States such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar gave tax relief on these items, Ms. Raje was holding on with a motive to target the Centre, he said. “Maybe the Chief Minister wants to come up with the relief just before the announcements of election dates in the State,” he wondered.

Mr. Gehlot said while the people were burdened with the problems of water, electricity and growing crime rate, the Government was busy with transfers. “Rough estimates indicate that this government has carried out more than six lakh transfers almost giving the status of industry to this exercise. The market rates for transfers are in public domain,” he asserted.

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