The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday hit back at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his ‘U-turn’ jibe as the Centre announced the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) and asked whether his party had implemented the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in states where it is in power.

While addressing a press conference, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad drew fresh barbs. He asked Kharge why the Congress took a “U-turn” on its poll promise of implementing the Old Pension Scheme in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana after coming to power in these states.

“I want to ask Rahul Gandhi — has his government implemented the Old Pension Scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh?” said Prasad.

Also Read: ‘U’ in UPS stands for Modi govt’s U-turns: Congress after Unified Pension Scheme announcement

“The Congress party has become so wary of the palpable falsehood of its assurance about pension, it could not muster the courage to include that as a part of its manifesto in the Lok Sabha elections,” the former minister said.

“Governing India is a serious business… The Congress party just makes announcements to garner votes and now the public has lost trust in its decisions,” he added.

Prasad accused Congress MP Rahul Gandhi of “bluffing” people by making false promises for votes and advised him to desist from such a practice.

Earlier, Mallikarjun Kharge took a dig at the Centre over the announcement of the Unified Pension Scheme, saying the “U in UPS stood for Modi government’s U-turns”.

Also Read: Unified Pension Scheme: How is UPS different from NPS?

“The ‘U’ in UPS stands for Modi government’s U-turns. Post June 4, the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister,” he tweeted.

His remarks came after the Union Cabinet on Saturday approved the UPS, which assures guaranteed pension for government employees. The decision was taken after a Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Modi.

Employees opting for UPS would be eligible for an assured pension of 50 per cent of the average basic pay drawn over the last 12 months prior to superannuation for a minimum qualifying service of 25 years.

The scheme also guarantees an assured minimum pension of Rs 10,000 per month on superannuation after a minimum of 10 years of service.

Under the OPS, retired government employees receive 50 per cent of their last drawn salary as a monthly pension. The amount keeps increasing with the hike in the Dearness Allowance (DA) rates. OPS is not fiscally sustainable as it is not contributory and the burden on the exchequer keeps mounting.