NEW DELHI: Differences have cropped up within the Congress over Centre’s Agnipath scheme with party MPs Manish Tewari and Jairam Ramesh sparring over the issue on Wednesday. The contradictory stands by party leaders on the issue is the latest amid the heartburn caused by some recent appointments, especially in the communication and social media departments in the grand old party.
In a media article, Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari batted for the Agnipath scheme launched by the Modi government, saying it must be contextualised in the backdrop of the larger canvas of defence reforms that include the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff and a reorganisation of the armed forces into theatre commands.
The Congress, however, distanced itself from the spat between two of its senior leaders, and said it firmly believed that the new military recruitment initiative was “anti-national security and anti-youth”.
“The future of warfare entails a lighter human footprint, but soldiers equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, supported by cutting-edge technology to fight a war in a highly informationised environment,” Tewari wrote.
‘Could have avoided towing opposite line’
Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh responded saying Tewari’s views are entirely his own and not of the party. Tewari replied that the tagline of his article does say – “the views are personal”. A senior party leader said that Tewari can have his independent views but towing a completely different line from the party’s official stand could have been avoided