The Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), which is spearheading an agitation for OROP implementation for last 571 days here, announced to support the Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Announcing the decision at the AICC headquarters in the presence of Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh and chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Virbhadra Singh and Harish Rawat respectively IESM chairman Maj Gen Satbir Singh (retd) hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not fulfilling his promise of granting OROP to all soldiers and accused the Government of changing the definition of OROP as spelt out by Congress-led UPA before it was voted out of power.
“Congress has given its agreement on implementation of OROP... We fully support the Congress in all the state in these elections,” he said. The league has also taken upon itself for educating people to cast vote to those who fulfill their assurances. “We will be with you if you don’t break our assurances,” Satbir Singh said.
Amarinder Singh said most of the ex-service organisations throughout the country will be working together for the benefit of the Congress. He said the movement entered its 571st day of protest at Jantar Mantar, on issues which they feel as ex-servicemen are vital for welfare of servicemen, like OROP, 7th Pay Commission and most importantly the downgrading of precedence of various ranks of the Army in relation to civilian counterparts.
While Virbhadra Singh said Himachal Pradesh is a state with a large number of serving and retired service personnel, Rawat said the way ex-servicemen were treated by the Prime Minister is not “acceptable”, even as he accused the government of not just diluting the OROP issue but also of diverting from the issue.