Rajasthan CM’s decision to implement the old scheme boosts the sagging morale of the Grand Old Party.
New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s decision to revive the old pension scheme has given the Congress a big political plank to step up pressure on the states ruled by BJP or the other parties to follow suit. Encouraged by this move, Congress has already started using this issue to derive political mileage.
Strategists believe that this issue can give the organisation a fresh lease of life at the national level. The Congress held press conferences at the central and state levels to highlight the Rajasthan government’s decision of “reviving the old pension scheme”, asking the Centre and other states to follow the suit.
The other decisions related to agriculture, health and employment sectors are such that would have direct impact on the common people. Agriculture budget, elevating limit from Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh under Chiranjeevi Health Scheme, 100 days job guarantee to the unemployed persons in urban areas on the lines of MGNREGA, etc., are some of the announcements in the Rajasthan budget that the common man will be happy with.
The Congress will ensure that other states under its rule also implement all these schemes. After the pension decision by the Rajasthan government, crores of government employees in the country, who got jobs after the scheme was done away with in 2004, will be expecting the same benefit for them as well.
The erstwhile NDA government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had scrapped the pension scheme. So, Gehlot’s decision came at a time when the Congress was in dire need of some political issue that could boost the sagging morale of its state units. The pension decision of the Gehlot government is dominating the public discourse across the nation. Rajasthan government employees were seen celebrating the decision, expressing gratitude to the CM. The high command is also happy with Gehlot for this move. AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra congratulated the Rajasthan government for this, saying that “our government will continue to work for the welfare of public”.
The party also highlighted this achievement at a press conference at AICC headquarters. Congress general secretary Ajay Maken and Rajasthan PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra lauded the decision and said that the Gehlot government thinks about the welfare of the people. They also said government employees had been demanding restoration of the old pension scheme which was discontinued a few years ago. Maken and Dorasra asked Centre and other states to follow the suit. It is worth mentioning that Maken has always worked in the interest of the government employees in Delhi. It was under his leadership that the employees had pointed out certain discrepancies in salaries during the UPA regime in 2006. As a result, the then Manmohan Singh government had given major salary hikes to the employees in the sixth pay commission. The UPA had gained political advantage in 2009 parliamentary elections.
Whenever the Congress was in power, government employees were given importance, which has not been the case during the BJP governments. The Vajpayee government scrapped the pension scheme. There were several discrepancies in the seventh pay commission recommendations in the Modi government as well. Moreover, the Central government is accused of doing away with several government posts.
So, Gehlot’s “pension move” has come as a big relief to the government employees as well as to the party organisation which is struggling to survive in many states. Nobody can understand the importance of employees more than Gehlot, who had to suffer a major electoral loss due to government staff being displeased with him in 2003. This despite the fact that Gehlot had distributed foodgrain among the drought-hit people. His outstanding work won laurels at international level that time. But the employees were unhappy with him due to salary issues. RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore says that Gehlot’s “historical budget” has upstaged the opposition. The budget has proved that it is only the Congress which takes care of common people and farmers, he says.
This has given Congress much-needed opportunity to put pressure on the Modi government for the similar employees-friendly decision. This is the reason why the party made it a point to hold a press conference at the AICC headquarters on the budget of a state government. It is a rarity for the Central Congress party to address a press conference on a budget of a state government.
Experts believe that the Central government will find it difficult to implement the pension scheme. If the BJP ruled states follow suit, then it will create pressure on the Centre to revive the pension scheme. Meanwhile, Gehlot’s position has been strengthened further at the central level after this decision. He has upstaged his rivals as well. Gehlot seems to be on the front-foot on the political pitch in what is indicated that he is preparing solid ground to win the next elections.