The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at Congress over its ‘U-turn’ jibe on the newly announced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees and cornered the grand old party over the implementation of its election promises, particularly the one on implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), in states where it is in power.
Addressing the media, Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing the UPS and asserted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government does not take “ad-hoc decisions”.
#WATCH | Delhi: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad says, “Will the Congress party only make announcements or will they ever fulfil them also?… I want to ask Rahul Gandhi has his government implemented the Old Pension Scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh?… The Congress party has… pic.twitter.com/KALJowmnJg
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2024
“The Congress has made the old pension scheme a massive issue in Indian politics over the last two years. So much so that the Congress made even Priyanka Gandhi Vadra announce during elections in Himachal Pradesh that the party will implement the old pension scheme in the state if voted to power…Will this Congress only make announcements or implement them as well? The Congress in general and Rahul Gandhi in particular, please tell the nation did you implement the old pension scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh,” Prasad told a press conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi.
The former Union minister also asked Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge to tell the nation why his party has taken a ‘U-turn’ on its poll promise of implementing the old pension scheme in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana after coming to power in these states. He also accused the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi of “bluffing” people by making false promises for votes and asked him to desist from such practice.
“We are proud of Prime Minister Modi that he listened to and understood the concerns of the (central government) employees, set up a committee to look into that, and a meaningful decision was made. On behalf of the party, we greet the government, especially the prime minister for this,” he added.
Prasad said the Congress had become “so weary of the palpable falsehood” of its assurance about the pension scheme that it could not muster the courage to include it in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto. “Governing India is a serious business…The Congress party just makes announcements to garner votes and now the public has lost trust in its decisions,” the senior BJP leader added.
The BJP’s attack came in response to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘U-turn’ dig at the Centre’s announcement of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees Taking to X, Kharge said, “The ‘U’ in UPS stands for Modi Govt’s U-turns! Post June 4 (when the Lok Sabha poll results were announced), the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister.” “Rollback in the budget regarding Long Term Capital Gain/Indexation. Sending Waqf Bill to JPC. Rollback of Broadcast Bill. Rollback of Lateral Entry.”
The Union Cabinet on Saturday approved the UPS, announcing an assured pension of 50 per cent of the basic salary for those who joined the service after January 1, 2004, fulfilling a long-pending demand of government employees. Employees opting for the UPS would be eligible for an assured pension after service of 25 years.