The Naveen Patnaik government?s initiatives to protect the state’s interest so far as major minerals are concerned will be supported by BJP-ruled states.
The former national president of Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), Rajnath Singh, Thursday said the mineral rich states where the BJP is in power would support the demands raised by the Orissa government concerning the mining sector.
?The BJP ruled states would support the cause to safeguard the interest of the state,” he told Fe.
Five mineral-producing states, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand, had sent a memorandum to the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, in March 2008 demanding that they should be consulted before any amendment to the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulattion) Act. They said the National Mineral Policy 2008 intrudes into their rights over the minerals produced in their respective states.
The states are also opposed to the seamless transition from reconnaissance to prospecting to mining lease for bulk minerals as proposed in the policy.
?The state?s right to select the best applicants should not be compromised in the name of seamless transition or security of tenure and should not be usurped by the Central Government under any pretext,? the memorandum said. While demanding that exports should be phased out, the states said: ?We are opposed to trading and value addition must be done in the states.?
Singh?s statement is significant in view of the fact that Naveen Patnaik?s BJD and the BJP have become political rivals in the state since the memorandum was submitted to the prime minister.
Rajnath, who was here to address a public meeting on the issue of price rise, said that there should be a national referendum on whether the UPA government should continue or not on the issue of price rise. Stating that price rise is due to the economic mismanagement and wrong policies of the government, he cautioned that inflation would touch 22-25% in coming months.
?The situation would be further worsened because of the rise in petroleum prices,? the BJP leader said, adding , that his party would demand a rollback in petroleum prices in Parliament.