In Haryana rallies, Amit Shah accuses Congress of playing politics over Agnipath scheme

Amit Shah accuses Congress of playing politics over Agnipath Scheme, promises jobs for Haryana Agniveers returning from Army.

In his first election rally in Haryana, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) accused the Congress of playing politics over the Agnipath scheme, and said not a single Agniveer returning from the Army after four years would be without a job in the State.

His remarks came at a Jan Aashirwad Rally in Bhiwani’s Loharu.

Later at a rally in Faridabad, Mr. Shah said slogans were raised at the Congress’ rallies in Palwal and Hathin hailing Pakistan, and accused the party of doing “politics of appeasement”.

With the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh region sending a large number of soldiers to the Army, Mr. Shah dwelt upon the twin issues of “One Rank, One Pension” and the Agnipath Scheme at the Bhiwani rally, accusing the Congress of doing little precious for the welfare of the soldiers. Saying that former Congress Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh denied OROP to the soldiers for four decades, Mr. Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the long-pending demand a year after he took charge.

Accusing the Congress, especially the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, of playing politics on the new Agnipath scheme, Mr. Shah said when he spoke to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini about the Opposition “spreading rumours” on the scheme, Mr. Saini said his government would give jobs to all Haryana Agniveers. “I am saying this today, not a single Agniveer returning from the Army will be jobless. This is the responsibility of the BJP,” said Mr. Shah.

Touching upon the withdrawal of special status enjoyed by Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, Mr. Shah dared Mr. Gandhi to make his stand clear before the Haryana Assembly election on whether the abrogation of the law was good or bad. He said Mr. Gandhi was a “big lie machine” and he could lie in all languages.

The Union Home Minister said Mr. Gandhi had tied up with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah in Kashmir and their agenda was to “release all terrorists after the elections, hold talks with Pakistan and lift the ban on terrorist organisations”. “Article 370 will never return” to J&K and people of Haryana could trust Mr. Modi on that, he said.