"The Agnipath Scheme is an unforgivable insult to the Armed Forces," Kharge responds to Modi
In a fiery speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the “Kargil Vijay Diwas," PM Modi attacked the opposition party for denouncing the Agnipath scheme that the government has planned for the army officers and criticized them for trying to weaken the Indian army. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reacted to the speech of PM Modi and accused the Prime Minister of playing “petty politics” on Kargil Vijay Diwas. Kharge shared a tweet on X after a few hours of the PM Modi speech.
“It is very unfortunate and deplorable that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas,” Kharge wrote on X. “No Prime Minister has ever done this before,” he wrote on X. Kharge even added that the claim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Agnipath scheme that it is at the behest of the Indian army “is a blatant lie” and an “unforgivable insult to our valiant Armed Forces.”
Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Prime Minister of talking only about lies and not putting the real piece of information in front of the citizens. “Modi ji, it is you who are spreading lies! 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 government did the opposite and forcibly implemented this scheme for all three armed forces,” Kharge wrote.
"According to news reports, former Army Chief (Retd) General MM Naravane, in his book, which the Modi government 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"!" he added. Kharge quoted that the former Army Chief wrote a book in which it was clearly written that the Agnipath scheme came as a shock for the army officers, and they were not able to believe that the government could take a decision like this for the officers.
He even highlighted that it’s not just about one book or the opposition who are criticizing the scheme; there are many retired army officials who have strongly put up their point and did not support the decision of the government over this scheme. Kharge said that this scheme can impact national security and the desires of youth from rural areas.
“All this is on record. Agniveers do not get any pension, no gratuity, no family pension, no liberalized family pension, and no education allowance for their children,” Kharge quoted. He added on by saying that the former army officials want the government to withdraw and scrap the idea of the Agnipath scheme for the benefit of the youth.
