Vadodara: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday promised to implement the old pension scheme for government employees in Gujarat if his party is voted to power in the year-end Assembly polls and called for an indigenous system of education in the country in the place of the one inherited from the British.
In his latest visit to Gujarat, where the BJP is in power for nearly three decades, the AAP chief sought to woo government employees after offering a raft of "guarantees" to various sections of the society and also spoke about his pet subject of education and called for its overhauling at a town-hall meeting here.
"Government employees in Gujarat have taken to the streets in large numbers. Their main demand is the implementation of the old pension scheme. I guarantee them that when the AAP forms a government, we will implement the OPS in Gujarat," Kejriwal said.He said Punjab, ruled by the AAP, has already decided to revert to OPS and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has issued an order for its implementation.
Interestingly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has already assured that if voted to power in Gujarat, his party will restore the old pension scheme.
Talking to reporters, Kejriwal claimed he was heckled at the Vadodara airport by a group of people who raised slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Delhi CM said BJP supporters never raise slogans against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when he visits Gujarat and alleged the saffron outfit and the country's oldest politcal party are "united" to abuse him and the AAP. "When I landed at the airport in Vadodara, some 30-40 people shouted, 'Modi', 'Modi', 'Modi' in front of me. The situation in Gujarat is such that the BJP is going to be in great trouble," he said.
Kejriwal defended Punjab Chief Minister Bhawant Mann amid allegations that he was deplaned from a Delhi-bound flight at the Frankfurt airport as he was "drunk".
He said the Opposition is slinging mud at Mann as they cannot find a fault in his work.