Kargil Vijay Diwas: Congress accuses PM Modi of doing ‘petty politics’ over Agnipath scheme

Congress President Kharge accuses PM Modi of playing politics on Kargil Vijay Diwas, defending controversial Agnipath scheme.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing “petty politics” even on the occasion of paying tribute to martyrs of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge alleged on July 26. 

Mr Kharge claimed that no Prime Minister has done such a thing before. His comments came after the Prime Minister defended the Agnipath scheme, saying it was done at the behest of the armed forces. 

Addressing a function on the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Divas at Drass, Mr Modi accused the Congress of spreading misconceptions about the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces.

“It is very unfortunate and deplorable that Prime Minister @narendramodi ji is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas. No Prime Minister has ever done this before,” Mr Kharge wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The Congress chief said that the Prime Minister’s claim that his government implemented the Agnipath scheme at the behest of the Army is “a blatant lie and an unforgivable insult” to the armed forces. 

“Modi ji, it is you who are spreading LIES! Former Army Chief (Retd.) General MM Naravane has said on record that 75% of recruits were to be taken for permanency in the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ and 25% of people were to be let go after 4 years. But the Modi Govt did the opposite, and forcibly implemented this scheme for all three Armed Forces,”Mr Kharge said.

Quoting news reports on the former Army Chief’s book, Mr Kharge said, “…Former Army Chief (Retd) General MM Naravane in his book which the Modi Govt, has stalled from being published, has also said, that the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ was shocking for the Army, and for the Navy and Air Force, it came like a “bolt out of the blue”!”