Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it was due to his "stubbornness" that the BJP had to face defeat in the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Along with this, CM Gehlot claimed that BJP governments will go to more states, because in a democracy, no one is stubborn. Gehlot was addressing a 'state-level beneficiary festival' program while launching the first phase of the Indira Gandhi Gas Cylinder Subsidy Scheme in Jaipur.  

Talking about his decision to restore the old pension scheme (OPS) for state employees, Chief Minister Gehlot said that his government passed such an important decision from a humanitarian point of view. Gehlot said, "The Right to Health Act that we have passed, the Government of India should review it. I would like to tell PM Modi from this forum, there is no place for stubbornness in a democracy. The PM is stubborn, he sticks to what he once thinks. Chief Minister Gehlot further said that in a democracy, based on the feedback of the people, it should be seen what the people want and keep changing their minds accordingly."  

Along with this, Gehlot narrated the story of a meeting with the Prime Minister at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He said that in this meeting, the then Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur had mentioned the decision of the Rajasthan Government regarding OPS in front of PM Modi. Gehlot said that Thakur had given the right advice to the Prime Minister at that time to let him take the decision of OPS like the Chief Minister of Rajasthan (Gehlot), but the Prime Minister said that this decision is not right.  
    
According to Gehlot, "I had said at that time, Prime Minister, please get it reviewed." On this, the Prime Minister said, "No, no, I have done a review." Gehlot said, "PM Modi remained stubborn, stubborn. Today, see what that stubbornness was, the government went to Himachal, in Karnataka. There will be more governments. No one is stubborn in a democracy. No one has arrogance in a democracy."

What experts say on OPS, why it was closed:

Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Beri has also expressed concern over the re-implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS). "This will put a burden on future taxpayers. There is a need to improve the fiscal position of this country and promote sustainable development. I'm a little worried about OPS being restored. I think this is a matter of concern because the burden will not be on the taxpayers of today, but on the taxpayers and citizens of the future. Economic experts also say that this scheme can create new problems for the already debt-ridden states. This will put a huge economic burden on the upcoming governments. The OPS was discontinued on April 1, 2004, by the Manmohan Singh government after consultation with economic advisers and instead started the National Pension System. However, now the Congress is trying to woo the voters by making the same OPS an issue, which it had closed."  

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