Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lying to the nation on Agnipath Scheme and said that the scheme was implemented without consulting the Army.
He said that this scheme has invited anger and opposition from the youth and demanded it to be scrapped immediately.
On social media handle X, Kharge said, “Modi ji is saying that his government implemented the Agnipath scheme at the behest of the Army, this is a blatant lie and an unforgivable insult to our valiant Armed Forces”.
He said, “It is very unfortunate and deplorable that Prime Minister @narendramodi ji is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas. No Prime Minister has ever done this before”.
The Congress President stressed, “Modi ji, it is you who are spreading LIES!”.
It may be mentioned that the PM in his address in Dras had said that the government had respected the decision taken by the armed forces because as the security of the country was more important than politics.
Mentioning about the former Army Chief, Kharge said, “Former Army Chief (Retd.) General MM Naravane has said on record that 75% of recruits were to be taken for permanency in the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ and 25% of people were to be let go after 4 years. But the Modi Govt did the opposite, and forcibly implemented this scheme for all three Armed Forces”.
He mentioned about the book authoured by Gen MM Naravane and said, “According to news reports, Former Army Chief (Retd) General MM Naravane in his book which the Modi Govt, has stalled from being published, has also said, that the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ was shocking for the Army, and for the Navy and Air Force, it came like a “bolt out of the blue”!”.
“Are we creating professional soldiers, only by 6 months of training? Soldiers join the Army out of patriotism, not to earn a living. Many retired officers have strongly criticised Agnipath and said that it is endangering National Security and the aspirations of the rural youth, demanding that this scheme should be completely scrapped. All this is on record,” Kharge said.
The Rajya Sabha MP alleged that Agniveers do not get any pension, gratuity, family pension, liberalized family pension and education allowance for their children.
“Modi ji, 15 Agniveers have been martyred so far. At least respect their martyrdom,” he said.
