Oppn likely to go ahead with bandh

In the last one week, the wholesale price of oil has come down from Rs 1,000 to Rs 815 per tin of 15 kg. But Parikh described the fall as “temporary”, while Hasmukh Patel claimed the retail price was still Rs 70 a kg the same as it was a week ago. “The price has come down only in forward trading, which doesn’t mean any relief for the consumer,” Hasmukh Patel said.

Parikh dismissed the raids on millers as “for appearance sake”; Hasmukh Patel likened the government action to “locking the stable after the horse has bolted”. In the past, both parties have accused Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel of being hand in glove with the millers. The chief minister’s political base is Saurashtra region, which is the oil bowl of Gujarat.

At the all-party meeting, held on August 28, the leaders of the Congress, RJP, CPI, CPM and the Janata Dal had agreed on united action on the issue of oil price, which had risen to a peak of Rs 70 a kg last week from Rs 40 in March, when the BJP government assumed office. Although Vaghela took the initiative for the meeting, he agreed to accept C.D. Patel as convener for the sake of opposition unity.

Alarmed over the development, the chief minister, who had persistently refused to take action against millers in spite of demands from his own Food and Supplies Minister Jaspal Singh, ordered a crackdown. In the past, he had attributed the price rise to countrywide shortage of edible oils, while Jaspal Singh blamed the millers.

However, the raids conducted to unearth hoarded stocks did not yield much oil or groundnut. A senior officer said that most of the millers had perhaps got an inkling of the raids. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the price has come down. On Tuesday, the government also started supplying packed palmolein oil to ration card holders at the rate of Rs 35 a kg.

The decision was taken following reports that loose oil, which was already being sold, may be finding its way out of the PDS. But a senior minister admitted that the action against millers had come “too late”. Already, the government inaction had brought the opposition parties on one platform. “It is not a happy omen. So far, the government has been bumbling along. We cannot afford to function in this manner in future,” he said.

The minister indicated that some of his cabinet colleagues and other party leaders are likely to speak to BJP national president Kushabhau Thakre about the mishandling of the oil issue, in particular, and the chief minister’s style of functioning, in general. Thakre arrived in Gandhinagar on a two-day visit this morning.