Out of power, Rahul forced to remember soldiers: BJP

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi after he attacked the government over the OROP issue, the BJP said Saturday the Congress chief has been forced to remember soldiers after being out of power for four and half years.

Bharatiya Janata Party media head and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni said Gandhi was seen "standing with the corrupt" when the Congress-led government was in power between 2004 and 2014, but he did nothing for soldiers.

"It is shameful that Gandhi is criticising the Modi government which implemented the 'One Rank One Pension' (OROP) scheme for soldiers while he himself did nothing for them. It is the new kind of low-level politics he has started," he said.

Baluni said though Gandhi was the most powerful man in the 10 years of the UPA rule, he had never uttered a word for soldiers.

The Gandhi family was in power for more than 40 years but executed no welfare measures for soldiers, he alleged.

Rahul Gandhi told a group of ex-servicemen Saturday that a Congress-led government would fulfil all the commitments the party had made on the 'one rank, one pension' issue.

Raking up the Rafale fighter jet deal, he told the group of retired defence personnel that the government handed out Rs 30,000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani, but refused to meet the demands of the soldiers on OROP.

Taking a dig at the Congress chief, Baluni said,"After being our of power for four and half years and getting no closer to it, Gandhi has begun remembering soldiers."