Cong may give 20% party tickets to ex-servicemen
DEHRADUN: The Congress state unit will give preference to ex-servicemen during ticket distribution in 20% of the total 70 seats in the 2022 state assembly election.
The announcement was made by party national general secretary and former chief minister Harish Rawat on Sunday at a gathering of ex-servicemen in party state headquarters here.
The announcement made by Rawat, who is also the president of party’s election campaign committee, is widely seen as a move to attract vote bank of ex-servicemen community in the state which has a significant contribution to the country’s armed forces and central armed police forces.
“The Congress will give preference to ex-servicemen during ticket contribution in the party for upcoming state assembly elections in 20% of the total 70 assembly seats which amounts to 14 seats. However, it party will also see the support base and acceptability of the ex-serviceman leader in public of the constituency,” said Rawat.
The former CM also said if voted to power in 2022, the party will also “form a permanent committee to address the issues of ex-servicemen in state.”
“Our government will prioritise solving the issues of our ex-servicemen who have made innumerable sacrifices for the country while serving it. It is our firm belief that taking care of their welfare is essential for the development of state as well as country,” said Rawat.
His declaration comes after several retired army officers had urged the Congress leadership to give more representation to the ex-servicemen in party including giving them tickets during elections.
“Every party including the Congress talks about giving respect to ex-servicemen. However, none of them does so on ground. If the parties really want to give respect to them, then they should give tickets to them in the elections,” said Lt Gen Gambhir Singh Negi (retd). He also said, “The Congress should also give a chance to the ex-servicemen in different places and positions of the party.”
Lt Gen Negi also criticised Congress for not taking a stand on the issues and problems of ex-servicemen and their dependents.
“I have hardly seen Congress leaders standing alongside any ex-serviceman or their family members in distress. This has to be stopped if they want to attract more ex-servicemen towards the party. Having said that, it is not that the ruling BJP has done anything significant for us. They too have failed to give respect to ex-servicemen in real sense,” he said while welcoming the Congress move on giving preference to the ex-servicemen in ticket distribution.
Another retired army officer Lt Gen TPS Rawat, who has also been a cabinet minister in the government of deceased former chief minister ND Tiwari, too welcomed the move but said the “Congress has lacked something in the organisation so far as it had failed to attract the ex-servicemen towards the party unlike the BJP”.
“The BJP has managed to attract more ex-servicemen towards the party because they have aggressively so spoken on the rights of the army personnel. The ex-servicemen as well as the serving ones are attracted to their approach due to which not many have looked towards the Congress which now should work towards this issue more seriously,” he said.
The ruling BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, termed the Congress move as a mere “political gimmick”.
BJP state general secretary Kuldeep Kumar said, “This is nothing just a political gimmick. On the other days when our forces carry surgical strike against Pakistan, they question the valour of our jawans by demanding proof of the strikes. But now when the elections are near, they are trying to woo the ex-servicemen by promising tickets to them, which will never happen.” Naveen Pirshali, state spokesperson of AAP, which has its CM candidate in Col Ajay Kothiyal (retd), said: “The Congress is trying to dupe the ex-servicemen with this false promise of tickets. But they won’t succeed in that because the ex-servicemen are not fool. They have served the country braving odds and they know who their well-wishers are.”
Political commentator Jai Singh Rawat said: “With the ruling BJP constructing Sainya Dham memorial to pay tribute to the martyrs of Uttarakhand, the Congress had to do something to counter it. Hence, its promise of giving preference in ticket distribution. But, we will have to take it with a pinch of salt by seeing if they actually do that during ticket distribution for 2022 election.”