Mangaluru: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on April 21, attributed the surge in the prices of petroleum products in the country to geopolitics.

Addressing the media at Dakshina Kannada BJP office, Dharmendra Pradhan cited four reasons for the fuel price in the country and said, ” Due to internal politics, Venezuela, which is one of the largest oil producing country, is producing lower amounts as compared to past 40 years. The organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has reduced production to get better prices.The terrorist attack on Syria and tension created by America on Iran, include the four reasons for rise in Petroleum Prices”, he claimed.

He also said that the union government was concerned about the price hike in crude oil, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to OPEC not to artificially inflate price of crude oil.

On the issue of sexual assault on minors, Pradhan said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi the union cabinet had cleared ordinance on death penalty to child rapists for the first time in the country.

Commenting on the increasing dissidence in the party over the party ticket, Pradhan said, “I don’t think that there will be rebellions within the BJP. Many people are aspiring to become the candidates of the BJP because of its good governance in the centre. The final criteria for the the party ticket is ‘winnability.’ The president of BJP’s Parliamentary Board has impartially decided the candidates for Karnataka.”

BJP will start the intense election campaign in the state from the date of nomination withdrawal, he said. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will very soon start his campaign in poll-bound Karnataka,” he added.