New Delhi: The Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiv Sena on Sunday launched a vitriolic attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya over his remark that if he has to hire the services of professionals to arrange security at the party office then he would give priority to those who have served as Agniveers. “BJP’s Kailash Vijayvargiya has cleared all doubts about the Agnipath scheme. The satyagrah is against this mindset,” the Congress tweeted in Hindi.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on his part asked Vijayvargiya to not disrespect the country’s youth and the military personnel.
“Do not disrespect the youth and army personnel of the country so much. The country's youth work hard day and night to pass the physical test and exam because they want to serve the country for their whole life by joining the military and not because they want to join as guards for the BJP office,” he wrote on the micro-blogging platform.
Lambasting Vijayvargiya, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said “this is trivialising the importance of our men in uniform”.
“Our armed forces will also train for Agniveers to become security guards. This is trivialising the importance of our men in uniform,” she tweeted.
The outburst came as Vijayvargiya earlier in the day said the Agniveers can get security jobs at the BJP offices.
“Under the Agnipath scheme, the youth would develop qualities like discipline and obedience, which would benefit them in their lives even after the completion of the service period,” news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Vijayvargiya as saying while addressing a press conference at the BJP office in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city.
“If I have to hire the services of professionals to arrange security at the BJP office, then I will give priority to those who have served as Agniveer soldiers,” he added.
Claiming the implementation of the Agnipath scheme is not a political decision, Vijayvargiya said: “This plan has been made on the basis of the suggestions given to the government by an expert team of three service chiefs and retired army officers.”
“In the report of a commission made after the Kargil war, it was also suggested that the average age of soldiers joining the country’s army should be less,” he added.
The Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the armed forces was launched by the three service chiefs earlier this week in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s presence.
The Union Cabinet earlier on June 14 approved a recruitment scheme called Agnipath for Indian youth to serve in the armed forces. The scheme allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the armed forces for a period of four years.
This scheme has, however, sparked protests in many parts of the country.
As protests continue unabated, various Union Ministries have announced job opportunities for the Agniveers after their four-year term ends.