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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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
