OROP & THE GREAT BETRAYAL OF FAUJI FOR ITS VOTE BANK & FAILED PROMISES

SOURCE:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/of-fauji-vote-bank-and-failed-promises/391091.html



 'Pakistan must focus on ending poverty instead of breeding terror'                                                           - Narendra Modi speech in Rewari
  
                 ना  टेरर  रुका  |
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                 डिलीवरी  का  DATE  मिला  जुलाई 2019                                        SATBIR BOLA मिला ONE  टाइम  RAISE  मिला  
                 वह भी  भिखारी के  KATMANDAL  में  
                 KHOTA  ओरोप  का  MEAN  वैल्यू  KA देन  मिला 
                 मोदी  BOLA फौजी को आरोप MILA
                 मोदी  का वायदा  पूरा हुआ 
                    
                   NA  HATHIAR  NA OROP
                   NA CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF
                   NA  RAKSHA MANTRI
                   MANTRALLAYA BABU KE RAM BHAROSE
                   JAI JAWAN JAI KISSAN 
              MERA BHARAT MAHAN
                                               - Vasundhra









              OROP & THE GREAT BETRAYAL

Of Fauji Vote Bank and Failed Promises

                              By


 

       Col Dabby S De Mello (RETD) 


On September 15, 2013, in an election rally at Rewari the BJP had promised to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme. Almost three years later, the promise has still not been fulfilled. The issue is far from being resolved. The nurturing of the armed forces en bloc has created a new vote bank.
 Apr 13, 2017.

Veteran ex-servicemen protest against the non-implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme outside Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s residence in New Delhi. PTI



IN present-day India, come elections, the political parties throng to the various vote banks.  On September 15, 2013, one more vote bank was added to the existing list; the “Armed Forces Vote Bank”. 



                    OROP & THE GREAT BETRAYAL

                   [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EYZAespU3o ]

 'Pakistan must focus on ending poverty instead of breeding terror'                                                           - Narendra Modi speech in Rewari
  
                

Persons from the armed forces, especially  retired soldiers, are a fairly close-knit community.The mollycoddling of the military had thus far not been openly attempted by any political party even though politicisation had been going on for long. The collective mindset of the veterans it seems altered on  September 15, 2013. On this day they (rightly or wrongly) allowed themselves to be considered a vote bank, perhaps due to the feeling that they have been taken for granted.

 In the run-up to 2014 General Election, a poll strategist of the BJP apparently came up with a bright idea: “Why not tap the neutral armed forces, serving as well as retired, and use them as a vote bank”. The idea, appreciated by one and all as one whose time had come, was considered a master stroke. 

A survey was conducted to ascertain the numerical strength of this vote bank.  The strength of the three services —the Army, Navy and the Air Force regulars is already well known. The district and state sainik boards have the data regarding the ex-servicemen, military widows and the reservists. 

The combined strength of the three services as per the Indian Defence Year Book is around 14 lakh, ex-servicemen constitute nearly 26.5 lakh, military widows and war widows 6.5 lakh and 45.5 thousand, respectively, (a testimony to the huge, but unrecognised, national sacrifice of our soldiers and the most unjustly  neglected lot), the reservists are 1.7 lakh. The sum total is 49.1 lakh. Multiply it by a modest figure of  10 (family members and close friends) and the simple arithmetic  gives you a whopping and magic number  of 4.91 crore. A pan-India electorate which could influence 110 parliamentary seats, if evenly dispersed constituency wise. If the demographic spread is slightly uneven, the influence pattern may get marginally reduced but would still be formidable. Sometime during the middle of 2013, the BJP started a primary membership drive for ex-servicemen. The veterans were excited about being part of the electoral process, something denied to them since Independence. They even got a (misplaced) feeling of empowerment. Within a couple of months, the membership grew unexpectedly. Senior veterans organised motivational workshops at the block and district level and the middle-level ones motivated those  at the village and mohalla level. 

The agenda was to project the BJP as a jawan-friendly party, worth giving a chance to. The disciplined and obedient vote bank was shaping well. For the game plan to work, the BJP needed a believable electoral promise, a bait attractive enough for the faujis to bite, and an organisation with a strong leadership to spread the promise to the jawans throughout the country. The bait already existed for the ex-servicemen — the promise to implement One Rank One Pension (OROP) for defence pensioners. Prior to this, to press home the longstanding demand of OROP, in 2008 the entire ex-servicemen community came under one umbrella, with the formation of the United Front of Ex-Service Men (UFESM), headed by a retired General officer. Since then the UFESM made its presence felt all over India in support of the highly emotive issue of OROP. Poll strategists of the BJP were monitoring the influence and expanse of this front of disciplined and obedient ex-servicemen who would obey their seniors, including voting en masse for a particular political party in the polls. The aim as well as the mechanism to spread it among the 4.91 crore-strong armed forces vote bank were readily available. The only thing the BJP needed was a master stroke to showcase a supposedly charismatic figure and kick-start the campaign. It was a win-win strategy. The BJP had one  in Narendra Modi. 

Now that the statistics had been worked out, the BJP and the veterans devised a plan to collect the ex-servicemen and tell them that the BJP was truly a jawan-friendly party, committed to safeguarding their interests. Accordingly, Rewari a small town in southern Haryana was chosen as the venue for the All-India Ex- Servicemen Rally on September 15, 2013, to be addressed by Narendra Modi, the projected prime ministerial candidate. Captain Abhimanyu, a veteran and a BJP heavyweight in Haryana, was tasked to organise the rally. Handouts with tri-services colours and the lotus logo were distributed far and wide. 

been declared the prime ministerial candidate on September 13, 2013 but it was on  September 15, when  he addressed his maiden election rally at Rewari that this was publicly announced. 

The rally was attended by 31 retired generals, many more brigadiers and colonels ( I was one of them ), majors and captains running into hundreds, and an estimated seven lakh JCOs and jawans — all flashing their shining miniature or full medals on their chests. A photographer's delight indeed. Narendra Modi mounted the stage, bowed five times in front of the ex-servicemen and there was a thunderous roar by the upbeat veterans: "Dekho, dekho kaun aaya! Bharat Ma ka sher aaya". Yes the lion, the would-be king had arrived. The lion mesmerised the audience with his one hour and five minutes’ flawless oratory. He  mentioned that some political parties were indulging in vote-bank politics with the military and they should not fall prey to them. 

What he said in the 47th minute of his speech was what the entire defence fraternity was waiting for. “Hamare fauji bhaiyon ki wazib maang sweekar honi chahiye”. He continued, “Your longstanding and just demand of One Rank One Pension has been pending since so many years. Why?”He further added, "Had our government come to power in 2004, fauji bhaiyo, maanniye Vajpeyi ji would have ensured that your wazib demand of One Rank One Pension was met and the honour and dignity of the serving and retired is restored”. It had an instant connect with the jubilant audience. Another roar by the now totally mesmerised, or should we say brainwashed innocent faujis, “Dekho dekho kaun bol raha. Bharat ma ka sher bol raha”. After the massive response by the ex-servicemen in Modi's maiden election rally at Rewari, for the NDA (read the BJP) the wind of approval seemed favourable, the sea seemed calm and the Ark (vote bank of the ex-servicemen) seemed ready too. All it needed was a call from the General to all veterans to vote for the BJP to ensure the BJP's Ark, sails through. At the appropriate time, the General gave a call to the entire fraternity of ex-servicemen throughout India: “Vote for the BJP. Modiji has promised to fulfil our demand of One Rank One Pension”. The entire defence fraternity of 4.91 crore responded to the General's rallying cry and en masse as a vote bank cast their ballot for the BJP. 

As a result, over one-fifth of the NDA's thumping majority in the 2014 General Election was courtesy the soldiers in and out of uniform. On September 15, 2013, a new vote bank, the “Armed Forces Vote Bank” was rightly or wrongly formed. 

The defence pensioners have been given just a one-time raise in their pension and the government has maliciously termed this raise as One Rank One Pension. The Prime Minister has the utmost affection for the jawans but his colleagues and his subordinates (bureaucrats) seem to have misinformed him, resulting in him repeatedly telling a lie to the nation about granting of the One Rank One pension to the faujis. 

The veterans feel let down at this sellout. Surely they are not foolish enough to continue to agitate  if the OROP had been granted. The number of veterans sitting at the Jantar Mantar for the past one year and nine months, without break, asking for their promised One Rank One Pension is increasing day by day. 

It is not merely the unkept promise  by the Prime Minister to the faujis. Modi, a world-class statesman and the head of the government is repeatedly misinforming the country at the cost of serving and retired soldiers just to convince the larger electorate — the civilians— about his good governance. 

In 2014, the General gave a call to the serving and the retired soldiers and all responded. They always do. Come 2019, and the General will again give a call but that time the narrative may not be the same as it was in 2014.