BJP urges EC to take action against Rahul Gandhi's 'two types of soldiers' remarks

NEW DELHI: NEW DELHI: BJP on Wednesday called upon the Election Commission (EC) to take decisive action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his recent statements alleging the creation of two categories of soldiers by the

Modi government

.
The BJP delegation, led by senior leaders including external affairs minister

S Jaishankar

and union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission.

"A few days ago, Rahul Gandhi said that Narendra Modi has created two types of soldiers, one comprising sons of those who are poor and belong to dalit, adivasi, backwards, economically weaker sections in the general category and minorities, while the other comprising those who are sons of rich," Jaishankar told reporters after meeting the poll panel officials.
Gandhi's made the purported remarks at a rally, where he criticized the Modi government's

Agnipath recruitment scheme

for soldiers. "As soon as the INDIA alliance government comes, we will end the Agniveer scheme. India does not need two types of martyrs. Everyone should get a pension," Gandhi had said at a rally in Bihar's Bhagalpur.

Gandhi also promised implementing a minimum tax and waiving off farmers' debts. "We will change GST. There will be one tax, the minimum tax. We will double the salary of Asha and Anganwadi workers," he said. Jaishankar denounced these comments as baseless and harmful to the morale of the armed forces, characterising them as an attempt to politicize and undermine national security.

Speaking to reporters after meeting poll officials, Jaishankar said, "Today all of us have come to the Election Commission and the reason for this is that in the last few days, we have repeatedly brought to the notice of the Election Commission the violations of the MCC which the Congress and other parties of the INDI alliance are doing. It is a matter of concern that no action has been taken. So today we have come again and we placed before them 22 such examples and we reiterated to them one more time that you are aware and if action is not taken and such violations continue to happen then it will be a loss for the entire country because then there will be no respect for the model code of conduct..."

Further explaining the incident that led them to file a complaint, Jaishankar said, "A few days ago, Rahul Gandhi said that Narendra Modi has created two types of soldiers, one comprising sons of those who are poor and belong to dalit, adivasi, backwards, economically weaker sections in the general category and minorities, while the other comprising those who are sons of rich.

He further expressed his anger on the remarks saying, "This is an attack on our armed forces. They want to make it a controversial topic and lower the morale of the armed forces. This is not a topic of elections. This is a matter of national security."
The BJP delegation urged the EC to take stern action against Gandhi and demand a retraction of his statements. Jaishankar underscored the gravity of such accusations against the armed forces, particularly during election periods, stating that they pose a significant threat to the country's security.
He highlighted previous instances where the Congress, led by Rahul, allegedly denigrated the armed forces, citing examples such as questioning military actions in Arunachal Pradesh and casting doubt on the success of operations like the Balakot

surgical strike

and the Uri attacks. Jaishankar concluded by asserting that such attacks on the armed forces for political gain are intolerable and should be vehemently opposed.
"If, during elections, such attacks are carried out at the Army, which, deployed at our borders, is using its all might to keep the country safe from Chinese forces and also standing firm against terrorism at the Pakistan border… If you you attack them in such a way without any reason and by spreading lies and say that if they martyr, the government will not do anything for them, then we take serious exception to it," said Jaishankar.
(With agency inputs)