Latching on to anger among Army job aspirants over Agnipath, Congress on Sunday sought to breach BJP's youth vote bank, holding 20 press conferences across the main cities in the country on Sunday to flag the "all-time high unemployment" and accused the Centre of playing with the students' future.
Top Congress leadersfanned out in different states launching the campaign and held press conferences in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Shimla, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Patna, Ranchi, Lucknow, Jammu and Jalandhar.
On Monday, party workers in Bihar will organise protest marches against the scheme in all 243 Assembly constituencies.
Congress is planning to line up similar protests in other states as youth anger continues to simmer after protests in different locations despite many BJP-ruled states and Union ministries announcing plans to accommodate Agniveers after their four-year stint.
At the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the party would protest against the scheme in all Assembly constituencies in the country as other senior party leaders also jumped in to attack the government on the job front.
Gohil said the Congress is standing with the youth and this "Tughlaqi decision" should be withdrawn immediately.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq, who ruled the Delhi Sultanate for a short period of time in the 14th century, was known for his controversial decisions.
"At a time when China has entered our borders... this (Agnipath scheme) is like playing with national security," Gohil said.
"I demand from the prime minister that Agnipath be withdrawn and all those ministers or BJP spokespersons who say that the Agnipath scheme is good, they should get their sons and daughters recruited under the Agnipath scheme," he said.
Gohil also demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya's remarks apparently suggesting that he will give priority to 'Agniveers' for security jobs at his party office.
"The leader who said that Agniveers will be employed in BJP offices as guards should be sacked by the prime minister and the PM must apologise," Gohil said.
Addressing a press conference at the PCC headquarters in Jaipur, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Deepender Singh Hooda also attacked the Centre over the scheme and called the government a "copycat" for importing ideas from foreign nations to draft policies.
"The government has adopted the attitude of a 'Nakalchi Bandar (copycat)' but this is Hindustan. Sometimes it gives the example of America in the context of agriculture laws and at other times talks about Israel in reference to military service," he said.
While former Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "PM's mastery in 'Entire Distraction Science' can't hide these disasters - ₹ at 78/$; $17 bn LIC value lost; WPI Inflation at 30yr high; Unemployment at all-time high; Largest ever bank fraud by DHFL (sic)," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Youths will not tolerate BJP's policy of betrayal with them after making the jumla of giving 2 crore jobs every year. While friends of BJP are getting big contracts, youths are not being given permanent jobs as the latter are becoming contractual (sic)."
The Gandhi siblings' attack on the government on the job front comes in the backdrop of massive protests in the last few days against the Agnipath.
Seeking to reorient the political narrative in the country from the Mandir (Hindutva) and Mandal (caste census) discourse, which benefits the BJP and the regional parties in the Hindi belt, Congress has been attempting to spotlight the economy and employment issues.
With PTI inputs