Bakhtiyarpur/Paliganj/Jagdishpur (Bihar), May 27 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that the INDIA bloc, if voted to power, would scrap the Agnipath scheme of recruitment in defence services and deposit Rs 8,500 in women’s accounts every month.
Addressing back-to-back election rallies in favour of Mahagathbandhan nominees in Bakhtiyarpur (Patna Lok Sabha seat), Paliganj (Patliputra Lok Sabha seat) and Jagdishpur (Arrah) in Bihar, he asserted that Narendra Modi will not be able to become the prime minister again since there is a clear “storm” in favour of the INDIA bloc across the country.
“There is a clear storm (toofan) in favour of the INDIA bloc across the country, including in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Narendra Modi will not be the prime minister of India after June 4,” he asserted.
“When the INDIA bloc forms the government, Agnipath scheme will be withdrawn,” Gandhi said at the Bakhtiyarpur rally.
The scheme, announced by the Narendra Modi government in 2022, envisages recruiting young soldiers, called ‘Agniveers’ after appointment, on a contractual basis of four years and retiring 75 per cent of them without certain benefits enjoyed by those who were not employed under this programme.
“The INDIA bloc, if voted to power, will throw the Agnipath scheme into the dustbin. Modi ji has turned soldiers into labourers. The Centre has made two categories in the Army — Agniveer and others. If an Agniveer gets injured or is martyred, he will neither get a martyr status nor compensation. Why is this discrimination?” Gandhi said.
“He (Modi) calls himself a true patriot but he insulted jawans by implementing the Agnipath scheme,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi invited to the stage a boy named Vikas from the audience and said, “This boy does not like the Agniveer scheme because it is discriminatory and an insult to the patriotism of the youth.”
“From July, Rs 8,500 will be deposited in the accounts of women from BPL households every month… this will change their financial condition. Initially, we will give you Rs 1 lakh annually, later we may increase it to Rs 2 lakh annually,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the prime minister’s ‘sent by God’ comment, the Congress leader remarked, “After June 4, if ED asks Modi about corruption, he will say I don’t know anything… I was told by God to do this. This is the reason he concocted this story… he says he is not biological but a messenger of God. Did God send him to serve billionaires?”
“He (PM) has developed strategies to divert the attention of people from real issues. Sometimes he talks about crocodile attacks, sometimes he starts walking on Ganga,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi claimed that Modi has created 22 billionaires, while the INDIA bloc government would create crores of ‘lakhpatis’.
He accused PM Modi of waiving loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of his “billionaire friends”, and said the country will never forgive him for this.
The former Congress president alleged that Modi snatched money from the poor and gave it to corporates who invested it in foreign countries.
“This election is to save the country, Constitution, democracy and reservations for the poor,” he said at another rally in Paliganj.
The Congress leader also claimed that if the INDIA bloc forms the government, it would open all industries that are shut and fill up 30 lakh job vacancies.
“If the INDIA bloc is voted to power, we will conduct caste census and economic survey in the country and will also remove the limit on reservations. Initially, when I raised the issue of caste census, Modi ji had said that there are only two castes in India – rich and poor. If that is so, how did he become OBC?” he questioned.
“Farmer loans will be waived if the Congress comes to power. People are distressed due to unemployment and inflation. The situation is such that people earning just thousands and those making crores of rupees are paying the same GST,” he said.
RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni, and other INDIA bloc leaders also attended the rallies addressed by Gandhi.
While Congress leader Anshul Avijit is contesting from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat, RJD leader Misa Bharti is the Mahagathbandhan nominee from Pataliputra parliamentary constituency. Sudama Prasad, the sitting CPI (M-L) Liberation MLA of Tararai assembly seat, is Mahagathbandhan’s nominee from Arrah Lok Sabha seat.
Voting will take place in Sasaram, Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Karakat and Jehanabad Lok Sabha constituencies in the last phase on June 1.