Irresponsible Rahul Gandhi "exploiting" soldier's death, says Jaitley

Hours after Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lying about implementation of the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme post the suicide of Subedar Ram Kishen Grewal, Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley on Friday took a jibe at the Congress vice-president and said that it was irresponsible behaviour on the part of a national leader to "exploit the tragedy".

Jaitley said "No one should try to change a personal tragedy into political gain especially a party whose fortune is already sinking."

He further trained gains at the Congress vice-president, saying more responsible behaviour is expected from him.

"For 10 years when the UPA was in power, it did not execute any meaningful steps to implement the scheme. It was only during elections i.e. in April 24 , 2014, they formed a committee to workout functional modalities," Jaitley said.

"It was obvious that it was filled with political motives. If the UPA government, which functioned at the behest of Rahul Gandhi, is so much concerned, why it did not shell out a single rupee for the OROP," he asked.

Jaitley comments came hours after Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "lying" about the implementation of the pension scheme and accused him of disrespecting soldiers by not fulfilling their demands.

After meeting the ex-servicemen protesting at the Jantar Mantar here, Gandhi pointed out that the issue is not just about implementation of scheme but giving justice to the soldiers.

"It would have been good if the government had clarified its position about paying pension then the ex-servicemen wouldn't have objected to it," he said while urging the Centre to implement the scheme with immediate effect.

Gandhi also alleged that the family members of Grewal were manhandled and abused by the police.