Agnipath may set opposition on warpath in Parliament

Nisha July 18, 2022Last Updated: July 18, 2022

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Agneepath scheme in the monsoon session starting Monday could be a flashpoint between the opposition and the Treasury bench.

The demand for a discussion on the Agnipath scheme in the monsoon session starting Monday could be a flashpoint between the opposition and the Treasury bench.

At an all-party meeting called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday, where the government was represented by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Commerce Minister and Rajya Sabha leader Piyush Goyal, the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and AAP demanded a discussion on Agnipath, price rise, the state of the Indian economy and alleged misuse of investigative agencies to target the opposition.

There are indications that the government may not agree to discuss the Agneepath Army Recruitment Reform Scheme, which aims to lower the age profile of the armed forces, as it involves issues related to defence preparedness that cannot be placed in the public domain. Is. Sources said the government may cite the same grounds for rejecting the replies related to the recruitment scheme in both houses.

Joshi cited the row over unparliamentary expressions to buttress his point that the opposition triggered a fake controversy. “There is no major issue against the government as it is functioning well under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership and it is being hailed in may elections,” he added.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, however, asked how 32 bills, lined up by the government as a legislative business, will be discussed and passed in Parliament in 14 days. “What is the government is trying to do? We raised 13 issues including price rise, Agnipath, attack on the federal structure of the country and misuse of investigative agencies such as ED and CBI,” he said.

Jairam Ramesh said many political parties pointed to the “contradiction in the Modi government” claiming credit for its (tribal) presidential candidate on the one hand and “killing off the Forest Rights Act, 2006 on the other hand”.