Become ‘MAFIVEER’, otherwise...: Rahul Gandhi warns PM Modi over Agnipath scheme

New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday ((June 18, 2022) said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will have to accept the demand of the youth and rollback the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, just like it had to revoke the farm laws following sustained protests by farmers. The former Congress chief also said that for eight consecutive years, the BJP government has "insulted" the values of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. Taking a swipe at the central government, he said the PM Modi will have to apologise to the youth of the nation, for the second time after apologising to farmers last year when the three farm laws were withdrawn.

“For 8 consecutive years, the BJP government has insulted the values of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. I had said earlier also that the Prime Minister will have to withdraw the black Agriculture Act. In the same way, he will have to obey the youth of the country by becoming 'Mafiveer' and 'Agnipath' will have to be taken back,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 18, 2022

The ‘mafiveer’ jibe aimed at PM Modi was a play on ‘Agniveer’, or the young soldiers recruited through the Agnipath scheme.

Rahul Gandhi’s statement comes as violent protests have erupted in several parts of the country against the Agnipath recruitment by defence job aspirants.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also joined the chorus for the rollback of the Agnipath scheme and alleged that the central government does not understand the pain and frustration of the jobless youngsters. 

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 18, 2022

Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the government said youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of the recruits will be retained for regular service.

The upper age limit was raised to 23 years on Thursday as the protests against the new model for enrolment of soldiers into the Army, Navy and Air Force spread.

The new scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the three services was projected by the government as a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to enhance the youthful profile of the three services.