No decision to ask BJP states to reduce petrol taxes: RSS

New Delhi, June 12 (UNI) The RSS has conveyed to the BJP that it has taken no decision to ask BJP-ruled states to reduce taxes on petroleum products, virtually distancing itself from views expressed in its mouthpiece ''Organiser'' which had criticised the protests against the hike as ''lack of intellectual honesty''.

The RSS views were conveyed by its functionary Mohan Bhagawat to BJP President Rajnath Singh clarifying that the Sangh had taken no such decision and did not subscribe to the views expressed in the editorial of the RSS organ, BJP Spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The NDA leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took to the streets to protest against the ''unjustified'' increase in prices of petrol, diesel and compressed natural gas.

''I will not comment on the writing because every newspaper is free to express its views,'' Mr Prasad said.

Addressing the rally, Mr Vajapayee wondered how the Centre, which had increased the prices of petrol by Rs four a litre and diesel by Rs two, could ask the states to reduce the taxes.

Mr Prasad and another party Spokesman Prakash Javadekar maintained that even today 51 per cent of the per litre petrol and diesel costs was due to imposition of various duties by the Centre and sales tax by the state governments. The Centre should work out a formula at the national level instead of penalising people with its lopsided approach intended to score against the non-Congress governments, they added.

The Centre will have to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers and Finance Ministers and find a way out because there has to be a rationale in reducing the sales tax by the states also.

While the Centre has many avenues for mopping up resources, sales tax was one of the few avenues available to the states for revenue generation as money was required to run the administration.

The states were just overcoming the economic burden imposed by the Centre by way of accepting the Fifth Pay Commission Report and it was not proper to upset their economies by asking them to bring down the sales taxes, they said.

The leaders said the Congress and UPA-ruled states like Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were all levying sales tax in the range of 30 to 36 per cent whereas it was at 20 to 25 per cent in the NDA-ruled states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Just because Maharashtra, which levies 30 plus percentage of sales tax, reduces it by one per cent, the BJP states can't follow suit because the taxes levied by them was much lower than Congress-ruled states. Even in Maharashtra, where the Chief Minister has announced his decision to lower the sales tax, the decision was not agreeable to the Nationalist Congress Party, the alliance partner.

The NCP which has the Finance portfolio in its control has refused to comply with the Chief Minister's instructions providing yet another flash point for the ongoing disputes between the two parties, Mr Javadekar said.

Mr Javadekar and Mr Prasad referring to the reported leaks from the PMO that the credit worthiness of the oil PSUs were in danger, said the Prime Minister should take into confidence the nation and disclose the state of financial health of these oil PSUs which were declaring 100 per cent dividends to the government and its share holders.

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