Congress netas meet President; raise 'mistreatment' of MPs by cops & rollback of Agnipath

Congress leaders on Monday met President Ram Nath Kovind and raised the alleged issue of ill-treatment of MPs during the protest against the Enforcement Directorate's questioning of Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case. They also raised the issue of the Agnipath scheme and demanded it should be rolled back.

In a letter handed over to the President, Congress urged the government to withdraw the Agnipath scheme, hold wide consultations with all stakeholders and address issues of quality, efficiency and economy without compromising on the welfare of the Armed Forces.

Addressing the media, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, said, "On Agnipath scheme, we have told the President that it was neither discussed with any committee nor was presented in Parliament, we said that this is a violation of our democratic rights. President has been asked to take this into consideration."

Last week, the government unveiled the Agnipath scheme to recruit youth between 17.5 and 21 years (upper age has been relaxed for 2022 recruitment) into the tri-services for a four-year term, after which 25% of them would be retained for regular service.

Congress on ED's action against Rahul Gandhi

The party also registered protest against the "vicious and unprovoked attack unleashed on Congress MPs by Delhi Police, which comes under the direct purview of Union Home Minister, and ensure a time-bound enquiry by the Privileges Committee on the breach of privilege," Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

Kharge alleged that a fake case has been registered against Rahul Gandhi by Enforcement Directorate (ED). He also claimed that Congress MPs' 'satyagraha' protest was targeted by the Delhi police.

The Congress delegation comprised Kharge, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, P Chidambaram and KC Venugopal.