UPA`s `one rank, one pension` decision election stunt: BJP

Himachal Pradesh BJP said UPA government`s "one rank, one pension" decision was taken after BJP`s Narendra Modi announced that NDA government would accept ex-servicemen`s demand after Lok Sabha polls.

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh BJP on Saturday said the UPA government`s "one rank, one pension" decision was taken in a tearing haste after BJP`s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi announced at Sujanpur rally that the NDA government would accept the ex-servicemen`s demand after the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP has been raising this demand for the past many years and Modi made an announcement in this regard at the ex-servicemen`s rally at Rewari on September 15 last year and again at Sujanpur rally on February 17. Rattled by the unambiguous stand taken by BJP on this issue, the UPA government made the announcement which is an "election stunt", Brig (Retd) Lal Chand Jaswal, convenor of BJP`s ex-servicemen cell, said. He said BJP welcomes the provision of Rs 500 crore made in the Union budget for 2014-15, but the announcement raises suspicions about the intentions of the government as it had come on the eve of Lok Sabha polls while the UPA was silent on the issue during its ten-year rule. Brig Jaswal said the government`s intentions have also become suspect as the Principal Comptroller of Defence Accounts has not taken any decision in this regard. He said the government has not included any representative of defence services in the Seventh Pay Commission for central government employees.