"PM Modi turned India's soldiers into labourers": Rahul Gandhi at rally in Haryana

Mahendragarh (Haryana) [India], May 22 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre of turning India's soldiers into labourers and promised to scrap the Agniveer scheme after coming to power on June 4.
Addressing a public rally in Haryana's Mahendragarh, the Congress leader said that India's borders are secured by the youth of Haryana and other states.
"You have patriotism in your heart, blood, and DNA. Narendra Modi ji, for the first time, has turned India's soldiers into labourers. He (PM Modi) says that there will be two kinds of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. One, a normal jawan or officer whose family will get a pension, status, and all other facilities. The other, a poor family's son who is named Agniveer; this Agniveer will neither get the status of 'shaheed' nor will he get any pension or any other facility," Rahul Gandhi said.
He further said that after June 4, the INDIA bloc would tear this Agniveer scheme into pieces and dump it in the dustbin.
"The Army does not want this scheme... this scheme is imposed by the PMO. The INDIA bloc government will come to power and the first thing we shall do is throw this Agniveer scheme in the dustbin. The soldiers who sacrificed their lives will be only of one category... the government of India will work for everybody, everybody guarding India's borders will get the status of 'shaheed'. We are going to tear this Agniveer scheme into pieces and dump it in the dustbin," the Congress MP said.
He claimed that the Modi government had waived his 22 "arabpati" (billionaire) friends' loans amounting to Rs 16 lakh crore, which was equal to farm loans spanning 24 years.
"Whenever we raise the issue of farm loan waivers, the media and BJP leaders claim that it will destroy the economy. What happened when he waived loans of 22 'arabpatis' (billionaires)? Whenever I crossed through farm belts during my Bharat Jodo Yatra, the peasants shared their grief of not getting a good price for their crops. The INDIA bloc would constitute a 'Karza Maafi Commission' (Loan Waiver Commission) that would look into farmers' demands for loan waivers, and the Centre would waive the loans," he said.
"If Modi ji can waive off Rs 16 lakh crore worth of loans of 22 billionaires, we shall also waive off the loans of our farmers," he added.
He further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost his image, adding that he can make PM Modi say whatever he wants to.
"His (PM Modi) reputation, image has been lost. 'Gubbara phat gaya hai'. Now, whatever I want, I can make him speak that. I said, Modi ji, you haven't taken the name of Adani-Ambani for ten years, you should take their names. After 2 days, Narendra Modi said, Adani-Ambani is giving money to Congress in Tempo. Modi ji, how do you know that they are giving money in Tempo? And if you know that, why didn't you start an inquiry over your friends by ED, CBI, and I-T? After I said we will transfer money into bank accounts 'taka-tak, taka-tak', the PM also started using 'taka-tak' in his speeches," the Congress leader said.
He further accused the government of being run by the "Modi-Adani partnership."
"Because the entire country knows that the government is being run by the Modi-Adani partnership. Airports and ports have been given, Himachal's apples have been given, land is being given, railways is also going to be given. I am not a king, PM Modi is. I never want to be one. I am your son, brother but not the king," Rahul Gandhi said.
The Wayanad MP also accused the media of being "friends with billionaires and Modi ji", and said that the media don't talk about unemployment, inflation and farmers.
"'Press Ke Mitro' kehna padhta hai par hai nhi yeh mitra (friends). They are friends of Modiji and Adani ji. I did 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' of thousands of kilometres, where people talked about inflation, unemployment and farmers' problems. But there was no talk of unemployment, inflation and farmers in the media. But in media only Narendra Modi's face and Ambani's wedding were shown," the Congress leader alleged.
Haryana has 10 Lok Sabha constituencies, including Ambala, Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Hisar, Karnal, Sonipat, Rohtak, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Gurgaon and Faridabad.
The voting in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat is scheduled to take place in sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha election on May 25. The counting of the votes will be held on June 4. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Dharambir Singh Chaudhary and Congress has fielded Rao Dan Singh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 7 out of 10 Lok Sabha seats whereas Congress could not win any seat in the state.