OPS not election jumla: Priyanka

Sirmaur (HP): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said promising return of old pension scheme by her party was not an election "jumla" as she accused the BJP of questioning the financial viability of the move while waiving loans of big industrialists.

Addressing a rally here on the last day of campaigning for the assembly polls, she also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders for their remarks that the Congress cannot give a stable government and asserted that her party gave the most stable governments since the Independence.

"Who created instability? Who made the governments fall by buying MLAs?" she asked.

Priyanka Gandhi also took on the BJP on the issue of unemployment and asked why 63,000 vacant government posts had not been filled during its five-year tenure.

When the first cabinet meeting takes place of a Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, one lakh jobs would be provided to youth and old pension scheme will be back.

"Himachal Pradesh was made by government employees, you must be respected," the Congress general secretary said.

The old pension scheme is not an "election jumla" and it has already been implemented in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, she said.

"The BJP leaders say it is not financially viable. You can waive loans of big industrialist friends but you don't have money for the government employees. Where does the money come for waiving those loans, it comes from the people" she said, hitting out at the ruling party.

Priyanka Gandhi claimed there are 30 lakh youth in the state and 15 lakh of them are unemployed, but despite that thousands of posts remain vacant.

"Their (BJP) intentions are not good. Don't get mislead by them. Listen to their election campaign closely, they do not talk about reducing prices, providing jobs," she said.