New Delhi, July 04: Amid a row over compensation to “Agniveer” martyrs, the Congress on Thursday said the government should bring a “white paper” on the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, so that the country gets to know the reality of the ground situation.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress’s ex-servicemen department chief Colonel (retired) Rohit Chaudhry claimed that the family of late “Agniveer” Ajay Singh from Punjab’s Ludhiana has got only Rs 48 lakh from the Centre, while it has received Rs 1 crore from the Punjab government and Rs 50 lakh as insurance money from a private bank.
His remarks came a day after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh “lied” in Parliament about the issue of compensation to the families of martyred Agniveers and demanded an apology for it.
Gandhi had also referred to a purported statement of Ajay Singh’s father.
Ajay Singh’s father purportedly said in a video shared by Gandhi on X that even though Rajnath Singh has said the families of martyrs have been given a compensation of Rs 1 crore, no such assistance has been received by his family.
The Indian Army, however, later rejected claims on social media that compensation has not been paid to the next of kin of Agniveer Ajay Singh, who lost his life in the line of duty, and said his family has already been given Rs 98.39 lakh of the due amount.
The total amount will be Rs 1.65 crore approximately, it said in the “clarification” that came after Gandhi shared the video on the microblogging platform.
Chaudhry said, “In Parliament, the defence minister gave incomplete information to the country, which created an atmosphere of doubt. As the main opposition, it is our responsibility to raise the issue of discrimination being carried out with the Army and Agniveers.”
“Rahul Gandhiji says there should be no discrimination with the soldiers and martyrs of the country. This is not just a matter of martyred Agniveer Ajay Singh, but of the 13 Agniveers who have been martyred so far,” he said.
Chaudhry said the government should bring a “white paper” on the Agnipath scheme, the discrimination between Agniveers and regular soldiers and the assistance amount to be given to the families of martyrs.
He said if the Congress comes to power, it will scrap the Agnipath scheme, “Agniveers” will be made permanent, the old recruitment process in the armed forces will be restored and the 1.5 lakh youngsters, who were not taken into service despite selection, will be inducted in the forces.
Addressing the presser along with Chaudhry, Wing Commander (retired) Anuma Acharya alleged that the Narendra Modi government is bringing out half-truths, entangling them in technical intricacies and using the Additional Directorate General of Public Information’s official X handle to mislead the people of the country. “We condemn this,” she added.
Meanwhile, hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his ‘parjeevi’ barb, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said that if anybody was a “parasite”, it was the BJP as its track record shows how it had “eaten up” the regional parties.
In an interview with PTI a day after the Parliament session ended, the Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, said the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha had shown that a “new, aggressive, revived, rejuvenated” Opposition had emerged in the form of INDIA bloc.
The former Union minister said Prime Minister Modi called for consensus outside Parliament but opted for confrontation within it.
“The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha and the simultaneous session of the Rajya Sabha has certainly seen two things — a new, aggressive, revived, rejuvenated Opposition in the INDIA group which is the way it should be in a democracy, but at the same time we have also seen no change in the attitude, approach, behaviour of the non-biological PM,” Ramesh said in a swipe at Modi.
The Congress leader claimed that the 2024 election result was a decisive, personal, political and moral defeat for Modi but that was not reflected in the way he allowed Parliament to be conducted.
“He (Modi) called for consensus outside Parliament but opted for confrontation within Parliament. There is no evidence that it is going to change, but there is evidence that the Opposition is going to be aggressive, active, pro-active,” Ramesh said.
“We hope the government realises that this is a mandate for a coalition government, it is a mandate for taking people along and it is also a mandate for listening to all other parties that are not part of the NDA,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Asked about Prime Minister Modi’s remarks calling the Congress “parjeevi” (parasitic) party, Ramesh slammed the BJP and pointed to the ruling party’s track record in dealing with allies.
“Only a parasite can use that word. Look at the track record of how the regional parties have been eaten up by the BJP. Today, the BJD, you see the climate change… has stood with the INDIA group in the Rajya Sabha throughout the session. So if anybody is a parasite, it is the BJP,” he said.
Replying to nearly 18-hour long discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lower House, Modi had made the “parjeevi” barb at the Congress.
“I don’t know if the Congress allies have done an analysis of the polls. This election is also a message for these allies. The Congress will be known as the parjeevi Congress party from 2024,” Modi had said.
“Parjeevi” is one who feeds on the body it resides in and the Congress eats up the votes of the party it allies with while prospering at the cost of its ally, the PM had said.
On Prime Minister Modi’s ‘balak buddhi’ jibe at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Ramesh said, “I am sure Narendra Modi knows the Indian mythology very well and he knows what Balak Prahlad did to the demon Hiranyakashyap.”
According to mythology, Prahlad despite being a child managed to defeat Hiranyakashyap.
Ramesh also accused the BJP of twisting Gandhi’s remarks during his address in the Lok Sabha.
Gandhi had launched a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP, accusing the ruling party leaders of dividing people on communal lines. Gandhi’s remarks drew massive protests from the treasury benches and a rare intervention from the prime minister, who accused the Congress leader of calling the entire Hindu community violent.
Asked about the BJP’s allegations, Ramesh said, “It’s a typical distortion that the prime minister excels in doing it. Throughout the election campaign, he distorted and he defamed, that’s not surprising what he did. Rahul Gandhi made perfectly legitimate remarks which were that the non-biological PM and his colleagues do not speak on behalf of the Hindu faith and the Hindu way of life.”
“We are all Hindus, we are all proud of it. The way the non-biological PM and his colleagues have conducted themselves, propagating prejudice, hatred, bigotry, violence, it goes against the tenets of this great faith that has sustained our culture and civilisation for thousands of years,” he added.
Ramesh also weighed in on the row over Gandhi’s remarks on the Agnipath military recruitment scheme in the Lok Sabha.
“The evidence is very clear, that Rajnath Singh contradicted what Rahul Gandhi said, but the facts are entirely in support of what Rahul Gandhi said. Let them do whatever they have to do, all the facts will come out. The facts are completely contrary to what Mr Rajnath Singh claimed, it was he who misled the House,” Ramesh said.
“The fact is the non-biological PM cannot run away from the fact that a former Army Chief of Staff has written in his memoir that it was a surprise for the Army and it came as a bolt from the blue for the air force and the navy. The majority of the armed forces are opposed to the contractual system that has been introduced in the name of Agniveer,” he said.
On whether any action may be initiated against Gandhi for his remarks in the House, Ramesh said they will try to unsettle him no doubt but his principle has been “daro mat” (don’t be scared).
“Remember there is no comparison between the mandate Mr Rahul Gandhi got in Rae Bareli to the mandate the prime minister got in Varanasi,” he said.
On his claims that the government will not last, Ramesh said the government is entirely dependent on support from “two Ns — Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu”.
