Will restore old pension scheme if elected to power in Gujarat: Rahul Gandhi

File image of Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the BJP of making the elderly dependent by abolishing the old pension scheme. He assured that the Congress, if elected to power in Gujarat, will restore the old pension scheme, saying it is the right of government employees who strengthen the nation.

"By abolishing the old pension, the BJP has made the elderly dependent from self reliant. The government employees who strengthen the country have a right: The old pension," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

"We restored the old pension in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh. Now the Congress government will come in Gujarat and will bring the old pension," Gandhi also said, using the hashtag #CongressDegiOldPension.

Senior Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia had said on Monday that his party will implement the old pension scheme in Gujarat just like Congress governments have done in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan if it is voted to power in the Assembly polls.

Thousands of retired government employees in Gujarat recently held protests demanding the re-introduction of the old pension scheme.

The Gujarat Assembly elections are due in the next few months and the Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in the state.