NEW DELHI, March 1 -- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to restore full income tax exemption on disability pensions for soldiers, in the backdrop of a provision in the Finance Bill 2026 that seeks to provide tax benefits only to soldiers invalided out of service due to disabilities attributable to or aggravated by service, excluding those who served and superannuated with disabilities. In a letter written to the minister on February 25, Rahul Gandhi said: "This is the first time since 1922 that disability pensions are being taxed. Disability pensions are meant to provide relief to servicemen who suffer injuries, and should not be thought of as income." The move triggered resentment in military circ...