Hope Prime Minister fulfils promises he made this time, says JD (U)

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second Independence Day address from the Red Fort, Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav said he hoped that this time the Prime Minister would fulfill the promises he has made.

"The Prime Minister always makes promises and says tall things, but they fail from turning into reality. I hope that what he said this time is fulfilled by him," the JD (U) chief said.

Speaking about the One Rank One Pension row, Yadav said that he was unable to understand why the government was not making a strong move.

"If Atal ji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) was here, then the OROP issue would have been resolved soon. The Prime Minister clearly has more power than Atal ji had in his days and he still wants time to think over the issue?," Yadav said.

The Congress said earlier that they were disappointed by Prime Minister Modi's reference to the issue of One Rank One Pension (OROP).

"PM is telling that (accepting OROP) for last 15 months, there is no need of accepting it, it has already been accepted by the previous government in the 2014 budget," former Defence Minister A.K. Antony said.

"At least, he (PM) would have told today that we are accepting the OROP and we delayed it. He should have given a date on which the ex-servicemen would get the OROP," Antony told the media here.

Prime Minister Modi in his Independence Day speech promised the nation's ex-servicemen that the decision on the OROP Scheme would be taken soon.

"I am saying in front of the tricolour that the government has accepted the pending demand of OROP. Talks are going on, and very soon, a decision would be reached. Discussions have come to the final leg. We are finding a solution, and I am hoping for a positive result," he said during his second Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.