Army does not want Agniveer scheme, India alliance will throw it in the dustbin: Rahul Gandhi

Mahendragarh. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that if the India alliance comes to power, the Agniveer scheme will be scrapped and it will be thrown into the dustbin. Along with this, he criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for converting Indian soldiers into labourers. In his first public meeting in Haryana for the Lok Sabha elections, the former Congress President also targeted Prime Minister Modi on the issue of farmers. Criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the Agniveer scheme, Rahul Gandhi claimed that this is not the army’s plan but Modi’s plan, the army does not want this. Rahul Gandhi said in a rally organized in Mahendragarh-Bhiwani Lok Sabha constituency, when the ‘India’ (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance) government is formed, we will throw the Agniveer scheme in the dustbin. He said that India’s borders are secured by the youth of the country and ‘patriotism is in the DNA of our youth.’ The Congress leader alleged that Modi has turned the soldiers of India into labourers. Taking a dig at the BJP government, Rahul Gandhi said, they say that there will be two types of martyrs – on one hand, ordinary soldiers and officers who will get pension, martyr status, all facilities and on the other hand, a person from a poor family who has been named Agniveer. Firefighters will neither get martyr status, nor pension, nor canteen facilities. Targeting the issue of farmers, Gandhi accused the Modi government of waiving off loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of 22 billionaires. He said that when we come to power on June 4, we will waive the loans of farmers. Gandhi said, “As far as waiving agricultural loans is concerned, we will bring a loan waiver commission.