LUCKNOW: Attacking the ruling BJP for equating Army recruitment with any another employment stream, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said the youth join the Army to "sacrifice their life for the motherland, and not merely for employment".
"Actually, the very idea of the BJP – that youth join the Army for employment – seems ill-founded. The youth join the Army to sacrifice their life for their motherland. It is the spirit to serve the country that drives them to join armed forces," Akhilesh said on Monday. "But those who have not even participated in the freedom struggle movement will not be able to understand this sentiment of the people and their love for India," he said.
"The ruling BJP should clarify if it was interested in raising a military force for the country or the Agnipath scheme has been introduced to raise a contingent of security guards for BJP offices," the former chief minister said on Monday.
Akhilesh’s comments came in an apparent reference to BJP’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s offer to hire ‘Agniveers’ as security guards at the BJP offices. A video of this comment had gone viral on social media leading to sharp reactions from the opposition parties.
"Ye spasht hona chahiye ki BJP desh ke liye sanya bal taiyyar karne mein roochi rakhti hai ya apne BJP karyalayon ke liye security guard ki training dilwane ki yojna lagu karne ja rahi hai (The BJP is interested in raising a military force for the country or introducing a scheme to train security guards for BJP offices)", he said.
Akhilesh said if the government has to meet challenges like budget and finances, it should increase taxes on corporate houses but must not compromise with the country’s security. “The BJP has been against farmers and youths. What is now unfolding is just adding to the party’s approach,” he said, adding that the BJP promised two crore jobs every year in India, and in UP, the party promised 70 lakh jobs in five years. “But the youth today are jobless,” he said.
Lamenting on what he described as a “formality in the name Army recruitment”, the SP national president said the careless manner in which the Agnipath issue is being handled has only added to the resentment among the youth who have been preparing for years to join the Army.
