After Congress, NCP backs Maharashtra government employees strike for old pension

The Nationalist Congress Party, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena have now joined the Congress in pressurising the Maharashtra government on the issue of the old pension scheme. The development comes even as there were divisions on the first day of the indefinite strike called by the state government employees who are demanding a return to the old pension scheme.

Nationalist Congress party, which till the time it was in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, had said that they would not be able to bring back the old pension scheme, has now decided to back the employees. On Tuesday, Opposition leader from the NCP, Ajit Pawar said, "A lot of essential services like hospitals have been affected. The government needs to find a solution to the issue. We are hearing that a lot of states, even smaller ones, have implemented the old pension scheme." The NCP backing the employees is being seen as the party joining its ally Congress.

The Congress leadership feels that the BJP could be hurt electorally if it does not implement the old pension scheme. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced that the state government has formed a three-member committee to study the demand of the state government employees on the old pension scheme. The Uddhav Thackeray group too has now backed the employees. "They (state govt) is saying that the main issue is about the strain on the state's finances if they go for the old pension scheme. If you look at the budget which was meaningless, they have splurged a lot of money with an eye on the elections, " says Aaditya Thackeray.