New Delhi, July 30 The Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav and BJP MP Anurag Thakur engaged in a heated war of words in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, over the issue of Agniveers and their 'sub-par treatment' as compared to regular jawans in the Armed Forces.
Their verbal duel prompted the Chair to intervene but the duo kept having a go at each other and also went to recall their association with military establishment to buttress their claims. The no-holds barred altercation saw the duo citing their links with the military.
Akhilesh claimed that the Agnipath scheme has turned out be a 'disaster' for the youth and the Central government is also realising its mistake of late.
He alleged that many state governments are being pushed and pressurised to 'absorb' the Agniveers by providing 'quotas' in respective police and Provincial Armed Constabularies.
"If the Agnipath scheme had no shortcomings and loopholes, then why BJP-led state governments are announcing programmes to enroll them, one after another," Akhilesh asked.
Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur objected to SP Chief's statement and said there is provision for 100 per cent employment under the Agnipath scheme.
He also cited the history and legacy of Himachal Pradesh, his home state, in serving the Armed Forces and said the state has a rare distinction of getting awarded the country's first Paramvir Chakra.
"In Kargil war, too, the maximum number of soldiers who made supreme sacrifice came from Himachal Pradesh," he said.
The SP Chief said that he could also list the number of military honours and asked the BJP MP not to throw a challenge at him as he is a passout from the military school.
Anurag Thakur, in a quick tit-for-tat rebuttal, advised the SP supremo not to 'lecture' him on matters related to Armed forces as he himself was a serving officer.
"I am serving as Captain in the Territorial Army. Akhilesh ji, don't just keep dishing out gyan like Rahul Gandhi," the BJP MP said.
Akhilesh, who led his party in fetching a whopping 37 MPs in Lok Sabha, further took a jibe at the Treasury benches, saying "he could understand their pain over loss in a state like Uttar Pradesh".
He also asserted that the INDIA bloc, whenever it comes to power, won't refrain from repealing the controversial Agnipath scheme.
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