Govt reduced jawans to labourers: Rahul Gandhi in Haryana

Sunit Dhawan

& Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Charkhi Dadri/Sonepat, May 22

Former Congress president and party’s star campaigner Rahul Gandhi today promised to scrap the Agnipath scheme upon the formation of INDIA bloc government at the Centre. He also promised to waive farmers’ debt and bring a law to guarantee MSP of all crops.

Addressing huge rallies at Charkhi Dadri and Sonepat, Rahul said the Agnipath scheme was a programme of the Prime Minister’s Office and not of the Army and it would be scrapped.

“The Army recruitment centres are lying deserted as the youth do not want to join the force as Agniveers. The Modi government has reduced the soldiers to mere labourers and divided the Army and even the martyrs into two categories. This scheme will be thrown into the dustbin and regular recruitment will be resumed. Also, 30 lakh vacant posts will be filled within a year,” he said amid a huge applause from the gathering.

Coming down heavily on the Centre, Rahul alleged the Modi regime had waived loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of a handful of big industrialists, while the INDIA bloc government would give the benefit to farmers. “The loans of the farmers will be waived not just once. We will constitute a loan waiver commission and waive farmers’ debt as per its recommendations on a regular basis,” he said.

When a participant raised the slogan “Desh ka raja kaisa ho, Rahul Gandhi jaisa ho!”, the Congress leader quipped: “Modi is the king of the country. I am your brother and son.”

He stated the educated youth would be given the right to their first permanent job. Under this, all educated youth of the country would be given an apprenticeship and paid Rs 1 lakh for one year.

Rahul said the Congress had also announced a revolutionary plan for women in its manifesto. “From July 4, crores of women from the economically weaker section will start getting Rs 8,500 per month in their bank accounts,” he said, adding this scheme would strengthen the country’s economy. Waving a copy of the Constitution, Rahul alleged the BJP government wanted to change it, but no power in the world could do so. He also slammed the media bashing, alleging the owners of media organisations were friends of Modi, Adani, Ambani and other billionaire-industrialists.

Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Rahul had listened to the problems of the farmers, youth, women and the poor during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, and the Congress manifesto had been drafted to address their concerns.

Meanwhile, infighting in the Congress came to the fore with Congress candidate from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Rao Dan Singh and Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry entering into an altercation and pointing fingers at each other in Rahul’s presence.