Chennai, Jan 3 (AHN) Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran has strongly criticised the state government’s announcement of a remodelled pension scheme, describing it as an election-driven move aimed at misleading the public towards the end of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) tenure.

Nagenthran said the DMK had categorically promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees in its 2021 Assembly election manifesto but had failed to honour the assurance for nearly five years.

“After remaining silent throughout its term, the government has suddenly announced a revised pension scheme just before elections. This raises serious doubts about its sincerity,” he said.

Questioning the timing of the announcement, the BJP leader asked what had prompted the DMK government to act now and whether the promise would ever be implemented in practice.

He alleged that the move was intended to create confusion among government employees and mislead their representative bodies, particularly the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisations (JACTO-GEO), which has been consistently demanding the restoration of OPS.

Nagenthran further claimed that repeated protests by various sections of government employees, including nurses, sanitation workers and secondary grade teachers, had failed to elicit any meaningful response from the DMK government.

“Despite sustained agitations and appeals, their genuine demands were ignored. Now, with elections approaching, the government is attempting to project itself as employee-friendly,” he alleged.

Recalling what he described as a pattern of unfulfilled promises, Nagenthran said the DMK had also failed to deliver on key poll assurances, including the scrapping of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and a Rs 100 reduction in LPG cylinder prices.

“These promises remain unimplemented even today,” he said.

Referring to political developments ahead of the Assembly elections, Nagenthran said the impact of the Union Home Minister’s recent visit to Tamil Nadu would soon be visible on the ground.

He accused the DMK of practising what he termed “fake secularism” and asserted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would form the next government in Tamil Nadu after the polls.