Raebareli (UP), Feb 20 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked the Centre over the Agniveer recruitment scheme, saying that it discriminates between martyrs, a charge rejected by the defence forces in the past.
Unlike the full-time Army soldier, a jawan recruited under the Agniveer scheme will not be given the status of a martyr, Gandhi said during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as it passed through Raebareli, the parliamentary constituency of his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“His body will be thrown away. His family will neither get a pension nor any kind of help. Agniveer soldiers will join the Army, but after four years, three out of four Agniveers will be kicked out,” he added.
“Where is the money from the Army budget meant to be given to the Agniveers going? Whatever they are supposed to get, Narendra Modi ji is taking it out of their hands and giving it to his friends,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.
The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, 2022, provides for the recruitment of youngsters in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half to 21 years for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Gandhi went on to describe how pickpockets operate and indirectly accused the BJP of diverting people’s attention with issues like Pakistan, China and the Ram temple. When people are distracted, the pickpocket steals their phone, he said.
“Who diverts attention here and there? Narendra Modi,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader also accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of wielding a lathi through central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.
Earlier in the day, when the yatra led by Gandhi reached Bachhrawan in Raebareli, Congress workers welcomed him.
BJP workers, meanwhile, raised slogans of Jai Sri Ram and waved black flags at him in the district.
In his address, Gandhi also targeted the government over his disqualification from the Lok Sabha. Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member in March last year after a Gujarat court convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail.
The Congress leader’s membership to the Lower House of Parliament was restored in August after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction.
Gandhi once again reiterated the importance of a caste census in the country, saying it was the only way out of the BJP’s “trap”.
“That is why the Congress party has kept the promise of a caste census at the top position in its manifesto,” he added.
Addressing a public meeting in Lucknow, the Congress leader said there are two different types of injustice being committed on people — economic and social.
Showing his mobile phone to the public, Gandhi said, “This is a Chinese phone… A billionaire sells this phone here and Chinese youths are benefitted from this. The money goes into the pocket of the billionaire. The youth of ‘Hindustan’ do not get even one rupee.” A delegation of NRIs led by the Congress’ frontal organisation the Indian Overseas Congress met with Gandhi at Fursatganj in Amethi on Tuesday and supported his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
On Wednesday, the yatra will leave for Unnao, the Uttar Pradesh Congress said. PTI SLM COR NAV SNS IJT IJT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.