MUMBAI, NOV 18: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to bring out a black paper showing gross economic indiscipline by the previous Congress governments since 1980 if the progressive democratic front government brings out a white paper showing the financial position of the state.BJP spokesperson Prakash Jawdekar told reporters that the black paper would be issued after the government brings out its white paper. He said that the government instead of politicising the entire issue on the economic condition of the state and blaming the BJP-Shiv Sena, should have a dialogue with the BJP-Shiv Sena who would in turn offer constructive suggestions to improve the economy of the state. He said that if the government goes ahead by issuing the white paper, it will loose its creditability and will get a lukewarm response from the public. Jawdekar said that with this attitude, investors will loose heart and will think twice before making an investment.Jawdekar alleged that the Congress had left the State in a debt of Rs 13,979 crore when the alliance government took over. The alliance government not only succeeded in paying back the debt but had taken loans to launch several developmental works, he said.Comparing revenue spent by the previous Congress and the BJP-Sena, Jawdekar said that that Rs 17 crore was spent in 1990-95 as against Rs 40 crore spent by the BJP-Sena government on development. As a result, the development progress of the state is up by 54 per cent. He pointed out that the revenue collected during the BJP-Sena rule went up from Rs 15,089 crore in 1994-95 to Rs 23,219 crore in 1998-99. Jawdekar said that every year there has been an increase of Rs 2,000 crore in the revenue.Commenting on the 10 per cent hike on power tariffs by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, Jawdekar said that the government should go all out in improving the system, preventing corruption and power thefts. On the Srikrishna Commission report, Jawdekar said from the BJP-Shiv Sena point of view the issue is closed.Referring to the high financial expenses incurred by the government due to implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission, he said the alliance government alone could not be blamed for it, as all the other parties, including the Congress had put forward such a demand.
