Congress distances itself from party MP Tewari's views favouring Agnipath

MP Manish Tewari has often taken a stand at variance with the party lines

The Congress on June 29 distanced itself from party MP Manish Tewari's stand favouring the Agnipath scheme, saying those were entirely his own views and not of the party which firmly believes the new military recruitment initiative is "anti-national security and anti-youth".

In an article in The Indian Express, Mr. Tewari wrote that the Agniveer recruitment reform must be contextualised in the backdrop of the larger canvas of defence reforms that include the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff, a reorganisation of the armed forces into theatre commands to promote jointness and synergy.

The future of warfare entails a lighter human footprint, but soldiers equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, supported by cutting-edge technology to fight a war in a highly informationised environment, he said. 

This recruitment reform would help in right sizing the armed forces provided it gets dovetailed into the imperatives of fifth generation warfare, Mr. Tewari said.

In response to the article, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "Manish Tewari, INC MP, has written an article on Agnipath. While @INCIndia is the only democratic party, it must be said his views are entirely his own & not of the party, which firmly believes Agnipath is anti-national security & anti-youth, bulldozed through without discussion."

Responding to Mr. Ramesh on Twitter, Mr. Tewari said the tagline of the article does say — the views are personal.

"I wish @Jairam_Ramesh ji would have read it right till the very end," the Lok Sabha MP said and attached a screenshot of the article where it was written at the end that the views were personal.