Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a swipe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for "playing politics" over the Agnipath scheme and asserted that it is the BJP's responsibility to ensure jobs for Agniveers from Haryana who are not retained after their four-year tenure in the armed forces under the short-term military recruitment plan.
Addressing a rally in Loharu in Bhiwani district of Haryana, where voting will take place on October 5, Home Minister Shah accused the Congress of promoting false narratives.
The Agniveer jawans will neither get employment nor pension. Well, here, I want to say that in the scheme of Agnipath, reservations for police services are given to the Agniveers at a percentage of 20 per cent… If any Agniveer comes back he will not be jobless and the BJP takes all the responsibility for this, he said.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Shah said: "The Congress, especially Rahul 'Baba', is playing politics. I want to tell Haryana's youth that 'Hooda and company', whose job is to spread lies, are saying what will happen to Agniveers later… but what I say, I do it."
He was referring to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The Central government, on June 14, 2022, introduced the Agnipath scheme pertaining to the short-term induction of personnel in the armed forces. It proposes the recruitment of soldiers only for four years and a provision to retain 25 per cent of them in regular service. Those recruited under the new scheme are called Agniveers.
The government said it would help to reduce the age profile of the armed forces, make sure there is a fitter military, and create a technically skilled force able to face the challenges that are in store for it. But the decision created an uproar and compelled the government to undertake a concerted outreach to scotch apprehensions about the scheme.
The controversy became a major electoral issue in Haryana, a state where tens of thousands of young men train for years to get into the armed forces.
The Congress had promised to scrap the Agnipath scheme if it came to power, and the discontent around the scheme is seen as one of the major reasons why the BJP slipped from 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 to just five in 2024. The issue is likely to play even more of a role in the Assembly polls, when the BJP will vie for a third term.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Home Minister Shah said soldiers were seeking "One Rank, One Pension" for 40 years, but the party never fulfilled the demand.
"The people elected Narendra Modi ji as PM in 2014, and by 2015, he made it a reality," he said.
Referring to the J&K elections, Shah said Rahul Gandhi and NC leader Omar Abdullah have an agenda to release all terrorists after polls and also hold talks with Pakistan," he added.
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