AAP says will bring back old pension scheme in UP if voted to power: Report

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which recently announced that it will contest elections in six states, on Saturday announced that the old pension scheme will be restored if they come to power in Uttar Pradesh, Hindustan Times’ sister concern Livehindustan reported.

AAP’s Uttar Pradesh spokesperson Prince Soni said that the state government has hurt the incomes of the elderly by replacing the old pension scheme with a new one. He also said the deduction of pensions of the elderly is akin to insulting them at the twilight of their lives.

Soni further said that the AAP aims to implement the Delhi model of governance in Uttar Pradesh. He also said that the party wants to bring changes to the recruitment process and in the way government employees work under contractual terms. He further added that schools and hospitals will function better if AAP comes to power in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier in January, Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said that the party is going to contest polls in six states. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, the party plans totest electoral waters in Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Urging party members to strengthen the party at grassroots level, Kejriwal had said, “In next two years, AAP will be contesting elections in six states - UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. I urge party members to strengthen grassroots-level hold of the party across the country. The organisation has to be strengthened on a very large scale. The country is important for us and AAP is the vehicle and we need to work towards the development of the party.”

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had previously targeted the UP government regarding the state of education in Uttar Pradesh. In December, Sisodia conducted a debate programme titled State of Education – Kejriwal's Delhi Model versus Yogi's UP Model - at Gandhi Bhawan in Lucknow’s Kaiserbagh. During the programme, he kept an empty seat on stage waiting for UP cabinet minster Siddharth Nath Singh, news agency PTI reported.

The party has also made MLA Raghav Chadha AAP's Punjab co-incharge in a bid to continue its criticism of the model of governance under the leadership of CM Captain Amarinder Singh. The party which has emerged as the main opposition party in the state continues to attack Congress over several issues.