Union Minister General VK Singh (Retd) slammed Rahul Gandhi over his Agniveer remark (File)
Union Minister General VK Singh (Retd) launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his recent remarks about cancelling the Agniveer scheme if his party comes to power.
Asked about Rahul Gandhi's statement that the Agniveer scheme has made soldiers mere labourers, General Singh (Retd) said, "I want to advise Rahul Gandhi that he must serve in the Army first and then make any statement about the Agniveer scheme. It is not right to say anything if he does not know the Army."
He also alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is a habitual liar. "It is Arvind Kejriwal's quality that he lies in such a way that he is speaking the truth. But the people can see the truth," he added.
Earlier on May 22, Rahul Gandhi accused the PM Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre of turning India's soldiers into labourers and promised to scrap the Agniveer scheme after coming to power on June 4.
Addressing a public rally in Haryana's Mahendragarh, the Congress leader said the youth of Haryana and other states secure India's borders.
"You have patriotism in your heart, blood, and DNA. Narendra Modi ji, for the first time, has turned India's soldiers into labourers. He (PM Modi) says that there will be two kinds of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country - one, a normal jawan or officer whose family will get a pension, status, and all other facilities and the other, a poor family's son who is named Agniveer. This Agniveer will neither get the status of 'shaheed' nor any pension or any other facility," Rahul Gandhi said.
He further said that after June 4, the INDIA bloc would tear this Agniveer scheme into pieces and dump it in the dustbin.
"The Army does not want this scheme... it is imposed by the PMO. The INDIA bloc government will come to power and the first thing we shall do is throw this Agniveer scheme in the dustbin... We are going to tear this Agniveer scheme into pieces and dump it in the dustbin," the Congress MP said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)