Scindia accuses BJP of insulting soldiers

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday accused the central government of insulting the country's soldiers.

Scindia also claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to interfere with the autonomous institutions and attempts were being made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace Mahatma Gandhi with himself.

"It pains me that today we have in place in our country a Defence Minister, that has shown scant respect for our defence forces. The very fact that he mentions that Indian army has only realised its strength like that of 'Lord Hanuman' after the surgical strikes," Scindia said in Panaji.

The Congress leader was in Goa to release the party's poll manifesto in Panaji.

"The fact that he mentions that 30 years of steam was left off after September 29, is that not besmirching the many sacrifices that our army jawans have given through the last 50-55 years to keep the integrity of our motherland intact," Scindia said.

Scindia also blamed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for not implementing the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for all soldiers.

"Today, when videos come out about the quality of rations and food that is given to jawans, people who give their lives to keep us safe at home, all of those facts are conveniently ignored," Scindia also said.

He also accused the BJP-led central government of attacking the autonomy of institutions, including educations institutions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Neeti Ayog.

"As the very fulcrum of our economic framework, the RBI today has become a puppet in the hands of the government. Diktats are beign sent from Delhi about how policies are to be made and those are turned around in a matter of hours without application of mind," Scindia said, adding that the demonetisation of currency was a result of one such decision.

He also said the manner in which the photo of Mahatma Gandhi was replaced by that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Khadi Village Gramudyog advertisements was "shocking".

"So key is the centralisation of one image in our country that today, even the Father of Nation has been replaced. This is something the people of Goa must also rise against," Scindia said.

--IANS

maya/pgh/vm