Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government 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.
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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.
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He was accompanied by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and joined in Madhya Pradesh by MPCC president Jitu Patwari, former CMs Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and Leader of 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,” Mr. Gandhi said, addressing a public meeting 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 ex-service personnel recruited as Agniveers will not get pension, canteen benefits and respect in their villages now.
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Morena is part of M.P.’s Gwalior-Chambal 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.
Accusing the Centre of privatising the defence manufacturing sector, Mr. Gandhi said that the arms and ammunitions for the forces were used to be made by government’s ordnance factories and the aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
“Now, [billionaire Gautam) Adani will make guns, ammunition, aircraft and drones. But, he will not actually manufacture them. The government will give contracts to foreign companies and make them partner with Adani,” he said, adding that Mr. Adani will only sell the foreign-made items and earn money.
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Reiterating his party’s promise of conducting a caste-based census if it comes to power, the former Congress president also 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 MGNREGA workers, contract labourers and sanitation workers,” he added.
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Mr. Gandhi said that the word nyay (justice) was added to the Bharat Jodo Yatra to fight for the social and economic justice of the poor and underprivileged.
On Sunday, Mr. Gandhi will address a gathering of Agniveer ex-servicemen in Gwalior before heading to Shivpuri where he is scheduled to hold a roadshow and interact with tribal community members in Mohkheda.
Mr. Gandhi’s foot-march will stay in M.P. until March 6 when it will enter Rajasthan.