Ex-servicemen to field candidates in LS polls

An ex-servicemen's body today announced that its members will vote for parties which support their 'one rank one pension' (OROP) demand and even field its own candidates in the Lok Sabha elections to press their cause.

An ex-servicemen's body on Thursday announced that its members will vote for parties which support their 'one rank one pension' (OROP) demand and even field its own candidates in the Lok Sabha elections to press their cause.

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"We will support only those parties which support our OROP demand. The names of these parties will be announced shortly," Lt Gen (retd) Raj Kadyan, chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) told reporters in Delhi.

"IESM will also field candidates in the ensuing elections", he said. Kadyan said that over the years, all the major political parties in the country had promised to look into the implementation of the OROP demand. IESM members will continue depositing their gallantry and service medals with the President till the time their demands are accepted, he said.

"On April 12, we will deposit the next instalment of medals with President," Kadyan said. Officers and soldiers associated with IESM have till now have deposited over 12,000 medals with the President since February 8 this year.

Under the OROP demand, IESM is seeking that servicemen who have put equal number of years into service and retired from the same rank, should get equal pension irrespective of the date of retirement.