Army does not want Agniveer scheme, INDIA bloc will throw it into dustbin: Rahul Gandhi
Mahendragarh (Haryana) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the Agniveer scheme will be scrapped and thrown into dustbin if the INDIA bloc comes to power as he slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "turning Hindustan ke jawan into labourers".
In his first election meeting in Haryana for the Lok Sabha polls, the former Congress president also attacked Modi over the issue of farmers.
Slamming the BJP government over the Agniveer scheme, he said, "This is Modi's scheme and not Army's scheme, Army does not want it".
"When the INDIA bloc forms government, we will throw Agniveer scheme into dustbin," he said at the rally held under the Mahendragarh-Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat.
India's borders, he said, are secured by the country's youth and "There is patriotism in DNA of our youth".
"Modi has turned Hindustan ke jawan into labourers," he alleged.
Further attacking the BJP government, he said, "They say there will be two types of martyrs - one normal jawan and officer, who will get pension, martyr status, all facilities and on the other hand, a person from a poor family who has been named Agniveer. Agniveers will neither get martyr status, no pension, no canteen facility".
The Centre in 2022 rolled out the Agnipath recruitment scheme for short-term induction of personnel into the armed forces with an aim to bring down the age profile of the three services.
The scheme provides for recruiting youngsters in the age bracket of 17 years and a half to 21 years for a four-year period with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 years.
Targeting the government over the issue of farmers, Gandhi accused the Modi government of waiving Rs 16 lakh crore debt of 22 'arabpatis'.
On June 4, when we come to power, we will waive farmers' debt, he said.
As far as farm debt waiver is concerned, we will bring a 'Karza maafi' (debt waiver) commission, Gandhi added.
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RCB secure IPL playoff berth with 23-run win against Punjab Kings
Dharamsala (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru rode on fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer, along with a decisive opening spell from pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to thrash Punjab Kings by 23 runs and seal a playoff berth in the IPL here on Sunday.
Kohli (58 off 37 balls), Iyer (73 not out off 40 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (45) produced impactful knocks as RCB piled up 222 for 4 in 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar (2/38) then removed the dangerous Punjab Kings opening pair of Priyansh Arya (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (2) early to all but shut the door on the opposition, who eventually managed 199 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Pacer Rasikh Salam (3/36) compounded Punjab Kings' misery by dismissing skipper Shreyas Iyer (1) in the fourth over as the hosts slumped to 19 for 3.
Late-order batters Shashank Singh (56 off 27 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (37 off 25 balls) attempted to revive the innings with a counter-attacking effort, but the towering RCB total ultimately proved far beyond PBKS' reach.
Earlier, Kohli stitched together a 76-run stand with Devdutt for the second wicket to lay the foundation before adding another 60 runs with Venkatesh for the third wicket as table-toppers RCB delivered yet another authoritative batting display.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 58, Devdutt Padikkal 45, Venkatesh Iyer 73 not out; Harpreet Brar 2/35).
Punjab Kings: 199 for 8 in 20 overs (Cooper Connolly 37, Suryansh Shedge 35, Marcus Stoinis 37, Shashank Singh 56; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/38, Rasikh Salam 3/36).
