Samajwadi Party-Congress accused the Rastriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) as fascist forces and claimed that Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), now under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, turned out to be Indian version of East India Company.
The statement was made by SP spokesperson and UP minister, Rajendra Choudhury, during a joint press conference of the Alliance at the Congress state headquarters where Army’s ex-servicemen association had announced support them, on Tuesday evening. The Association claimed that the Modi government has refused to implement the One Rank One Pension(OROP) scheme for the retired soldiers in the country as promised by him during 2014 Parliamentary elections. They also said that even now the PM is making false statement on the issue.
“The act of the Centre by refusing the genuine demand of the ex-army servicemen are an effort to by the BJP to go for a dictatorship in the country,” said Choudhury while adding that everyone in the country knows the act of the RSS during the freedom movement. “There is a political crisis in the country and if the communal forces get success in UP then no one can protect the country from going for attack on our Constitutional rights. These BJP leaders are trying to capture the country like what East India Company did with handful of persons,” he said adding that democracy is in danger under Modi’s leadership as he wanted everyone should act as per his `diktats’. Interestingly, Choudhary made above claims in presence of senior Congress leaders including former Rajasthan Chief Minsiter Ashok Gehlot, Rajya Sabha member Pl Punia and former state president Nirmal Khatri. Besides Rahul-Akhilesh meet and shows, this is first joint press conference of the two Parties.
Meanwhile, Major Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, a member of the Indian Army Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), announced the support of the ex-servicemen to the SP-Congress alliance in the UP elections to protest against the BJP’s backtrack on the One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue. Singh, advisor of United Front of Ex-Servicemen announcing the support in presence of senior SP and Congress leaders said that the OROP claimed by the NDA government is just an increment and the Modi government has just ditched the soldiers who are sacrificing their lives in the border.
He further said that due to the highhandedness of the Central government, who had refused to oblige to implement their promises, 6.45 lakh widows, 24 lakh ex-servicemen which is growing by 60,000 every year are suffering. “The centre was also not interested in hearing our genuine demands as we are sitting on hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi since 670 days. We were forced to give support to the Congress and other parties who have supported our demands,” the ex-serviceman claimed while adding that so far they campaigned to defeat BJP in Punjab, Uttrakhand and now they came to UP to ensure that BJP candidates should lose the battle of ballots.
Satbir also pointed out his meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely. ``We met Jaitely to discuss OROP as promised by Modi during his election campaign but we are shocked when such a senior leader asked them to forget it as political leaders made such promises during elections to woo voters”, highlighted Satbir while saying that BJP is once again making hollow promises to win Assembly elections after he cheated the armymen, hence they were campaigning against them.