The agitations surrounding the Agnipath scheme grew louder on Friday when army aspirants and youth organizations staged demonstrations, which later turned violent. In the midst of these disturbances, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vandra made a big statement.
Issuing a major ultimatum to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government, Priyanka Gandhi said that the Centre must withdraw the Agnipath scheme within the next 24 hours, slamming the extension of the age limit for the army recruitment scheme.
The Congress general secretary said that the extension of the age limit for the Agnipath army recruitment scheme was an indicator that the government has imposed the recruitment scheme on the youth without proper deliberation, as per her tweet.
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Posting on Twitter in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “Narendra Modi Ji, withdraw this scheme immediately. Give appointments and put out the result of the stalled recruitment in the Air Force. Conduct army recruitment (with age relaxation) as before.”
Earlier today, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also slammed the central government over the Agnipath scheme, saying that PM Modi “cannot hear anyone else over the voices of his friends”.
Tweeting in Hindi, the former Congress president wrote, “Agnipath - youth rejected. Farm laws - farmers rejected. Note ban - economists rejected. GST - traders rejected. The prime minister does not understand what the people of the country want, as he cannot hear anything except the voice of his 'friends'.”
This comes just a day after the government, after receiving a massive public backlash, raised the upper age limit to 23 years from 21 years for recruitment under 'Agnipath'. This move by the Centre came after violence erupted in seven states over the specifications of the recruitment plan.
The protests against the Agnipath scheme raged for the second straight day in as many as seven states, with the situation turning violent in Bihar, Haryana, and Telangana to a major extent. A student also died during the protests in Hyderabad, when the police fired shots into the air to disperse the crowds.
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