Congress seeks President's intervention against 'ill-conceived' Agnipath

The Congress on Monday knocked the doors of President Ramnath Kovind to petition him against the "completely ill-conceived" Agnipath scheme and "police excesses" against its MPs and workers. The leaders on Monday held a 'Satyagraha' against the misuse of central agencies by the ruling BJP, which the Opposition party alleged was running a "fair and lovely scheme" to help leaders "come clean" after joining it.

The meeting with the President and Satyagraha came on a day top leader Rahul Gandhi joined the Enforcement Directorate questioning for the fourth day but after a break of four days in the National Herald case, while Congress workers also halted rail and road traffic in the national capital protesting against the agency's move.

Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken alleged, "The ED and CBI have kept a box of fair and lovely in their offices. They ask politicians to stop speaking against the government and if they agree, the cream is applied on them and they become clean."

Also read: Several decisions may look unfair at first, but benefit nation in long run, says PM Modi amid Agnipath protests

A seven-member delegation -- Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel and senior leaders P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal -- met Kovind in the evening and handed over two memoranda on Agnipath and the alleged police excesses.

The delegation sought the President's intervention in the Agnipath scheme with senior MP Chidambaram telling reporters after the meeting that none of the arguments put forward by the government were justified and all were "blown to pieces".

In its memorandum, the Congress leaders said the government "did not adopt wide-ranging consultations" and the age of recruitment (17-21.5 years) was "untenable as it kept a large number of aspiring youth out of serving the military". It also said the training of just six months may have "negative consequences on quality".

Congress also did not find merit in the government’s argument on reducing the pension bill, saying it has not been established beyond doubt. They also described the announcements by ministries and PSUs on post-discharge opportunities as "after-thoughts and reeks of adhocism of the worst kind".

Chidambaram said the delegation also raised the issue of "police excesses" on party leaders and workers, entry of police into Congress office and detaining party functionaries without a legal notice. He said the delegation urged the President to ensure that their complaint is forwarded to the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

Protesting against Rahul's questioning, Youth Congress workers stopped a train at the Shivaji Bridge railway station near Connaught Place. Police detained 16 protesters and the train movement resumed after an hour.