Cong to meet Prez as it looks to corner Centre over new scheme

A Congress delegation is set to meet President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday to raise issues with the new military recruitment scheme Agnipath, a day after the party held a Satyagraha against the model that has sparked violent protests across several states.

The government unveiled the Agnipath scheme on June 14 and said that the youth between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure under the scheme. On the next day, protests broke out amid criticism about the length of service and the lack of pension provisions for those released early.

The Agnipath issue “is of paramount importance” for the party “and will be raised with the President, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces”, a senior Congress leader aware of the matter said.

“Tomorrow lakhs of Congress workers across the country will continue peaceful protests against the anti-youth Agnipath scheme & against Modi Govt’s vendetta politics targeting its leader Shri Rahul Gandhi, MP. A Congress delegation will also meet Hon’ble Rashtrapati in the evening,” Congress’s communication chief Jairam

Ramesh tweeted.

During the meeting, the fivemember Congress delegation will also bring to the President’s notice the alleged manhandling and harassment of party MPS by the Delhi Police during their protests against Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by Enforcement Directorate with its money laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper.

Earlier in the day, the Congress party staged a ‘Satyagraha’ in solidarity with the defence aspirants. “There is no bigger patriot than you... open your eyes and recognise the fake nationalists and fake

patriots. The entire country and the Congress are with you in your struggle,” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot, too, urged the government not to be “stubborn” and immediately withdraw the scheme.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, however, termed the protest “pure politics”. “There should be no politics on subjects of national importance. But politics is happening on such a subject and officers of the armed forces are having to come forward and explain (the Agnipath scheme) to them,” he said.