"Don't call him Congress' MP; you were in knickers when I was in the party" -- Congress MPs Manish Tewari and Saptagiri Ulaka sparred on Twitter after the former supported the government's controversial Agnipath scheme.
It all started with Ulaka commenting on a tweet by a news channel after Tewari appeared in a discussion supporting the government decision, hours after Congress fielded senior leaders P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken and Sachin Pilot at a press conference to pick holes in the employment scheme that has set the youth on protest path.
The channel tweeted quoting Tewari, "This scheme should be allowed to play itself out and if at all there are any glitches, those glitches can be ironed out. Govt needs to give clarity on transitioning process post 4.5 years": Congress' @ManishTewari on #Agnipath scheme."
Ulaka, a Lok Sabha MP from Odisha's Koraput, then took exception to the channel describing him as Congress MP as the party has already clarified "responsible people".
"With due respect, instead of Congress' @ManishTewari mentioned in the tweet below, just @ManishTewari would have sufficed in this context. Clearly our stand on #AgnipathScheme is different and has already been communicated by people responsible," he tweeted.
Tewari, who is at loggerheads with the central leadership, was not the one to take it lying and returned fire on Twitter, "dear @saptagiriulaka-ji, you are a valued colleague in Lok Sabha. However, may I respectfully point out that when you may have been running around in your knickers my dear friend I was actively working for Congress. I would request you to kindly refrain from these snide tweets." Ulaka is 43 years old, while Tewari is 56.
Separately, Tewari made his stand clear on the 'Agnipath' issue on Twitter: "I do empathise with the youth who have concerns over the Agnipath recruitment process. Reality is India needs a younger armed force with lighter human footprint savvy on technology, equipped with state of art weaponry. Armed forces of the Union shouldn’t be an employment guarantee programme."
Tewari's public articulation of differences came as top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the programme saying, “No rank, no pension, no direct recruitment for two years, no stable future after four years, no respect shown by the government for the army. Listen to the voice of unemployed youths of the country, don't take 'agnipareeksha' of their patience by making them walk on 'Agnipath', Mr prime minister."
Picking holes in the scheme, Chidambaram, Maken and Pilot targeted the "controversial" scheme that "carries multiple risks, subverts the long-standing traditions and ethos of the armed forces" while expressing fear that there is "no guarantee" that the soldiers recruited under the scheme will be better trained and motivated to defend the country.