Why Modi's speech will not win the OROP war

Prime Minister Modi made several promises on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls last year. From good governance to cleaning the Ganga to eliminating corruption. But nowhere is he being held to account as on his promise of awarding One Rank One Pension (OROP) for military veterans.

The sentiment was apparent this morning when thousands of military veterans recoiled from their television sets midway through the prime minister's Independence Day address at the Red Fort this morning. Prime Minister Modi reiterated his commitment towards OROP. "The technicalities were being worked out," he said. But the veterans say they had heard enough. There was no clarity on when OROP, or equal pensions for equal years of service in a rank, irrespective of the year of retirement, would be implemented. Consultations, Prime Minister Modi said, were underway. The sentiment at Jantar Mantar, ground zero for ex-servicemen who have been on a relay hunger fast for the past two months, was even more charged. Veterans, some of who were manhandled by police who attempted clear them from the spot yesterday ahead of Independence Day, have now stepped up their struggle.

What explains the veterans' dismay with the Narendra Modi government? The OROP issue has after all, in the PM's own words, been hanging fire for decades. It was promised and even partially implemented by the outgoing UPA.

There are several reasons why the veterans expected more from the BJP than from previous governments. The BJP is largely viewed as pro-military. The first NDA government between 1998 and 2004 saw two veterans, Major Jaswant Singh and Major General BC Khanduri holding key cabinet posts. Expectations were high from NDA-2 when former army chief General VK Singh and Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were given cabinet berths. Hopes of a grand announcement from the prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort began doing the rounds a month ago. These reached a crescendo when the government began back channel talks with ex-servicemen groups over the past few days. These hopes were swiftly dashed. Neither side would yield. Talks with the veterans collapsed.

The next few days will see shrill streetside protests and regrettably, a politicisation of the OROP struggle. The opposition, which tasted blood in the wrecked monsoon session, has quickly capitalised onto the Modi government's discomfiture. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited Jantar Mantar on August 14 and pilloried the government for not delivering on OROP. Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda led protests in Gurgaon on August 15. Veterans have reiterated their boycott of all government functions including the upcoming golden jubilee commemoration of the 1965 war unless OROP is implemented.

This is clearly going to be a unseemly war. One without any victors.