Rahul flays Centre over Agnipath scheme during Nyay Yatra in M.P.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked the BJPled Centre over recruiting soldiers in the armed forces as ‘Agniveers’ and said that the defence budget was now being put into the bank accounts of big businesspersons.
Mr. Gandhi also said that the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha election includes a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price ( MSP) for the farmers.
He made the remarks in Morena as his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered the State from neighbouring Rajasthan. After Morena, Mr. Gandhi also addressed a public meeting in Gwalior.
He was accompanied by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and joined in Madhya Pradesh by State unit president Jitu Patwari, former CMs Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar.
“There are now two types of martyrs after the Agniveer (Agnipath) scheme. Both will be martyrs but if he is an Agniveer, he will not get the martyr status and the pension. He will be told that ‘you gave your life for the nation but the nation will not honour you,” he said, addressing a meet in Morena. “This is happening because the government wants that the defence budget is not given to the jawans, and spent on their training and pension, but goes to the bank accounts of big businesspersons,” he said, adding that the exservice personnel recruited as Agniveers will not get pension, canteen benefits and respect in their villages now.
Morena is part of M.P.’s GwaliorChambal belt, which sees a significant number of youth joining the armed forces. The region had seen intense protests against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme when it was introduced in 2022.
Reiterating his party’s promise of conducting a castebased census if it comes to power, he attacked the BJP accusing it of not giving proper representation to the OBCs, Dalits and tribals.
“In India, there are 50% OBCs, 15% Dalits and 8% tribals”, he said, claiming that these 73% people have “very little” representation in both the government and private sectors. “You will only find names from this 73% in the lists of MGNREGS workers, contract labourers and sanitation workers,” he added.
The yatra will stay in M.P. until March 6 when it will enter Rajasthan.