New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has sparked a heated debate with the Indian Army following his critical remarks about the Agniveer recruitment scheme in a recent parliamentary address.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Gandhi’s speech encompassed a broad range of issues, including the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, the controversies surrounding NEET, and economic challenges like the farm crisis and inflation. However, it was his comments on the Agniveer scheme that particularly incited a strong rebuttal from the BJP government and the Indian Army. Gandhi described the scheme as treating recruits like “use and throw labour,” criticizing the disparity in benefits between different classes of soldiers and the government’s failure to recognize fallen Agniveers as “shaheed” or martyrs.

Further stoking tensions, Gandhi accused the Ministry of Defence of providing misleading information about compensation for the family of Ajay Kumar, a soldier who recently died. He highlighted a video on X where Kumar’s father claims to have received no financial aid, despite statements from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claiming otherwise. The Indian Army responded robustly on X, confirming that the family of Agniveer Kumar was compensated with Rs 98 lakh, alongside additional benefits totaling Rs 67 lakh, asserting that all protocols were observed.

These exchanges have heightened concerns about the worsening relationship between Rahul Gandhi and the Indian military establishment, with Gandhi’s critique extending to Prime Minister Modi, the BJP, and the RSS for promoting what he terms as divisive Hindutva ideology. He also mocked the effectiveness of deploying Agniveers, trained for just six months, in a hypothetical conflict against China.