OROP: Ex-servicemen threaten to intensify stir

NEW DELHI: Ex-servicemen agitating over the 'One Rank, One Pension' ( OROP) issue today threatened to intensify the protest if their demands were not met by the Centre within three weeks even as they decided to not vote for BJP in the upcoming assembly elections.

The United Front of Ex-servicemen ( UFES), an umbrella body of associations of ex-servicemen which is leading the protest, demanded that the Centre appoints "formally" former Army Chief and Union Minister V K Singh as the mediator between them and the government to resolve the issue "immediately".

The veterans "gave" 15 days' time to the government to "correct" its OROP scheme in line with the protesters' expectations -- failing which a seven-day notice period will be given to the government before the protest is intensified.

"We are giving the government 15 days' time, requesting the government for mediation and after that we will give them seven days' notice.

"Issue an order today itself empowering V K Singh to mediate with us and discuss the issue with us and resolve it within three-four days by removing seven discrepancies in the government OROP," major general (retd) Satbir Singh, who is leading the protest, said.

Singh made the demand during 'Sainik Aakrosh' rally organised by UFES at Jantar Mantar here.

Aiming to mount pressure on the NDA government, the UFES urged its members to not vote for the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections in several including Assam.

The veterans claimed it were the votes of ex-servicemen which helped BJP improve its tally in the 2014 Lok Sabha - more than what the NDA major itself had expected, they claimed.

However, the government has "cheated" veterans by not giving the OROP they wanted and BJP had promised to give, Singh said.

"You saw what happened to the party in Delhi and recently Bihar. We urge the members to not vote for it in upcoming polls now if our demands are ignored," he added.

The UFES also called upon ex-servicemen present at the rally to boycott Republic Day celebrations this year.