IN A veiled reference to the resignation of suspended MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira from preliminary membership of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi Chief Minster and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “AAP was formed for curbing corruption and not for fulfilling the greed for post and power of a handful of people. I repeat: seekers of power and post can leave the party at any moment. It will strengthen the party and its ideology.” However, Kejriwal did not name any leader. Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA from Bholath, resigned on Sunday, alleging that the party was totally deviating from the ideology and principles on which it was formed. Arvind Kejriwal was interacting with mediapersons briefly after his address to nearly 1,000 people gathered under the banner of Pension Bahali Sangarh Samiti (PBSS), Haryana, an organisation struggling for implementation of Old Pension System (OPS) in Haryana, at Sector 5. During his address, Kejriwal announced that his party would implement Old Pension System for government employees if AAP comes to power in Haryana. He accused the Congress and the BJP of “suppressing the interests of government employees.” Kejriwal added, “You will never get Old Pension System in Haryana from the Congress and BJP. The OPS will only came in Haryana when AAP will come to power. We have already introduced this system in Delhi and it is pending with the Center.” Under OPS, a retired employee is given assured pension, which increases based on inflation rate. The OPS was replaced with National Pension Scheme (NPS) by the central government in 2004.
