Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stepped up his attack on prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government over the Agnipath scheme. Extending his support to the protesters, he said ‘true patriotism lies in strengthening the army’ and hit out at the prime minister for ‘weakening the army with a new deception’.
“The Chinese army is sitting on the soil of our India. Prime Minister, true patriotism lies in strengthening the army but you are weakening the army with a new deception. In this movement, to save the future of the country, we are with the youth. I am saying again, you have to take back ‘Agneepath’,” Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter.
Addressing Congress parliamentarians and legislators on Wednesday, he also said, “The spine of the country — small and medium industries — has been broken by the Modi government. I say to all those who train in the morning to get into the Army, Navy, and Air Force that the prime minister has broken the spine of the country and this country will not be able to give jobs to its youth.”
Congress has been protesting against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme as well as the questioning of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald Case.
The government introduced the scheme on June 14 under which recruits – ‘Agniveers’ – will serve a four-year tour of duty after which 75 percent will be retired. The scheme triggered massive protests with several incidents of violence being reported from over 10 states. Protestors set trains on fire, torched vehicles and damaged both private and public properties.
On Sunday top military officials from all three branches – Army, Navy, and Air Force – stressed that the scheme will not be rolled back and offered clarifications and assurances for potential recruits.
