‘Cong’s old pension scheme a hollow promise to mislead Himachal voters’

I&B minister and a front-ranking BJP leader from Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur, says BJP is going to form the government in the state again. In an interview with TOI’s Akhilesh Singh, Thakur says BJP will return to office on the strength of good governance and for having provided a clean and honest administration. Excerpts from the interview

The OPS promise is on the top of Congress manifesto, but did not find mention among BJP's promises. Don’t you think it will hurt BJP? Congress’s promise of reintroducing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) shows an opportunistic approach. Former PM Manmohan Singh had withdrawn OPS. The new pension scheme was introduced when Congress leader Veerbhadra Singh was the state chief minister and Manmohan Sing the PM. Congress is now backpedaling without explaining why it was introduced in the first place. This is hypocrisy and opportunism. It talks about measures taken by Manmohan Singh govt if that helps them take credit for economic reforms but the party conveniently disowns him for electoral gains. People of Himachal Pradesh won’t believe Congress, which had promised jobs to one member of each family and unemployment allowance 10 years ago to win the polls, but failed to keep its words. Similarly, it also promised loan waivers in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, only to betray the people. Congress was in power at the Centre and the state for 10 years after OPS was withdrawn, why didn’t they bring it back?