Congress slams Modi govt, says BJP garnering votes using soldiers in Uttarakhand

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Friday said that the BJP government had ignored soldiers, adding that under PM Modi, the Centre had merely used soldiers to garner votes.

Dehradun:Congress national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday said during a press conference in Dehradun that the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ignored the soldiers. He also released a booklet about the issue related to the armed forces and ex-servicemen.

Surjewala slammed the government for using the soldiers' families of Uttarakhand and alleged that the administration had neglected the families of ex-servicemen.

“In the history of the country there are Darban Negi, Gabar Singh Negi, Jaswant Singh Rawat, Admiral Devendra Joshi, CDS General Bipin Rawat, Major Chitresh Bisht, Major Vibhuti Dhoundiyal, whose bravery Uttarakhand is not ignorant of. The Central Government, however, is working only to garner votes in the name of bravery of the Army. More than 1.22 lakh posts are vacant at the Army and ‘one rank one pension’ has been turned into a joke. No soldier can take pension after voluntarily retiring after July 1, 2014. The government has also attacked the health scheme meant for ex-servicemen”, he said.

Surjewala made the statement in Dehradun during the beginning of virtual rallies for Uttarakhand Congress. The spokesperson explained that for the upcoming assembly elections, the party has three mottos: ‘remove BJP, bring farmers’, ‘remove BJP, give rights to the poor’ and ‘remove BJP, provide employment to the youth'.

Uttarakhand will be going to polls on February 14, with results slated to come out on March 10.