Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP, renowned politician, former minister, and diplomat Shashi Tharoor has strongly condemned the BJP’s Agniveer scheme for the Indian Army. During a press conference in Dharamsala, where he was campaigning for Congress candidate Anand Sharma from Kangra, Tharoor accused the government of introducing the scheme primarily to save money by avoiding pension obligations for soldiers.
Tharoor, who served as India’s representative at the United Nations for 29 years, including seven years in World Peacekeeping, expressed pride in the Indian Army’s historical reputation for quality and professionalism. He warned that the Agniveer scheme threatens to undermine this reputation, especially at a time when India’s borders are not entirely secure.
“The government is sending young recruits to the borders after just six months of training and then leaving them unemployed after four years,” Tharoor said. “This approach risks ruining the global reputation of our army and is driven by a desire to balance the government’s accounts rather than ensuring national security.”
Tharoor emphasized that it is the government’s fundamental responsibility to maintain a capable army for border defense. He highlighted the alarming unemployment statistics, noting that 42% of the unemployed are graduates and 45% are youths aged 19 to 24. He also pointed out that in the past decade, the income of 80% of the population has significantly decreased, while the wealth of the top 20% has surged.
Tharoor assured that if Congress comes to power, it will prioritize justice for women, youth, workers, farmers, and the general public. He criticized the current government’s focus on financial gains over public welfare, stating that such an approach hinders national progress.
Addressing the issue of constitutional amendments, Tharoor noted that the constitution has been amended 100 times with bipartisan consent. However, he warned that if the BJP secures more than 400 seats, it could unilaterally change the constitution without consulting other parties. Despite this, he expressed confidence that after the second round of voting, it has become clear that the BJP is unlikely to secure more than 200 seats in the Lok Sabha this time.
Tharoor concluded by urging voters to support the Congress, symbolized by the hand, to bring about positive change and safeguard India’s future.
The voting in HP is scheduled for 1 st June and nationwide results on 4 th June . In Kangra Anand sharma of Congress is facing Dr Rajeev Bhardwaj of BJP and both of them are fighting the election for the first time .
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
