OROP takes ugly turn: Gen Satbir Singh sledges Arun Jaitley, says minister never meant to honour his word

The new twist given the One Rank One Pension (OROP) movement has taken an ugly turn. The leader of the veterans, Major General Satbir Singh has gone on record accusing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of deception. The General chose to make this very serious charge in an interview to a severely limited section of the media. He is quoted as saying that Jaitley had told them the BJP's poll promises to soldiers were just electioneering tactics and 'never meant to be honoured.' Gen Singh supposedly said, "One thing I have learnt that what any of these politicians say are never meant to be believed. That's the rule number one in India. Mr Jaitley when he was the defence minister, had told me, 'why don't you lower your expectations?' These are grave allegations and one can only conclude that by using the plural the General has witnesses to corroborate his accusation. One is a little nonplussed that the General would elect to speak to one entity in the media and ignore the rest of the profession. Fine, you are peeved about what has been perceived as a media boycott but, hey please, you are not schoolchildren sulking because someone took away your candy. You cannot afford to get personal. Not with the media and certainly not with a sitting member of the Cabinet. The government may decide to ignore the statement by the General. But if he can prove his allegations than we have a pretty stinking kettle of fish. In recent days, the OROP brigade has announced the return of 10,000 medals. Last week it set off an nationwide SMS campaign of support. But this is very different. This fresh development is pure in your face, up close and personal. If the General can provide tangible evidence that the Finance Minister had no intent to okay the OROP and that the promises made were pie in the sky it is certainly a huge shot in the arm for the vets and will put the government on the backfoot and regrettably, create a further schism between the men in uniform and their civilian masters. If, however, the General has shot off his mouth and it is reduced to a 'he said, I said' equation and Mr Jaitley decides to turn push to shove it could cripple the OROP movement.