Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of making a mistake in directing the Okoro Party not to criticize the Agniveer scheme during the polling season.
Chidambaram’s remarks came a day after the poll panel asked the Indian National Congress to ensure that its leaders do not indulge in “political propaganda” related to the activities of the defence forces.
“ECI was wrong to instruct the Congress party not to ‘politicise’ the Agniveer project. What does ‘politicize’ mean? Does ECI mean ‘criticism’?” former Union Home Minister Chidambaram said in a post on X on May 23.
The Election Commission also asked party leader Mallikarjun Kharge to ensure party leaders refrain from making statements that “create a false impression” that the constitution “could be abolished or sold.” . In a notice sent to Kharge on May 22, the Election Commission mentioned the speech by Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, but did not name him.
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Both “Agniveru” and the “Constitution” are key political issues that Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have raised in their campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s central government during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024. In fact, Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly promised to scrap the Agniveru Scheme if the Indian Union government comes to power.
The ‘Agnipath’ or ‘Agniveer’ scheme, which was approved by the Union Government in June 2022, is the process of recruiting soldiers for the Army, Navy and Air Force, who will be employed on contracts for a period of four years.
In his post, Chidambaram said that since the Agniveer scheme is a product of the government’s policies, it is the right of the opposition parties to criticize the government’s policies and declare that the scheme will be scrapped if voted into power. . He said Agniveer was creating two categories of soldiers to fight together and that was “wrong”.
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“Agniveer employs young people for four years and then kicks them out without giving them any job or pension, which is wrong. Agniveer was opposed by the Army but the government forced the scheme on the Army, which is wrong. Hence, the Agniveer scheme must be scrapped. The ECI has grossly erred in giving directions to the Congress Party and as a citizen it is my right to say that the ECI has grossly erred,” Chidambaram said.
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