BJP Leader’s Agniveer Remark Draws Criticsm

 

NEW DELHI: The national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kailash Vijayvargiya brewed controversy on Sunday when he said he will recruit Agniveers as security guards for the BJP’s offices.

“When an Agniveer comes out of the service after four years he will have the tag of an Agniveer which he can proudly display. So, if I want to hire security for the BJP offices, I will give priority to Agniveer,” Vijayvargiya said in Indore.

His comments drew strong criticism not just from the opposition but from his party leaders as well.

BJP MLA Varun Gandhi took to Twitter saying, “The great Indian army whose valour is resonant in the whole world, an invitation to that Indian soldier to do ‘chowkidari’ of a political office, such offers should be kept to themselves.”

Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister implored Vijayvargiya not to disrespect the country’s youth and military people.

Taking a dig at ‘those who didn’t raise the tricolour for 52 years’, embattled former Congress president tweeted in Hindi, “Those who did not hoist the tricolour for 52 years after independence, they cannot be expected to respect our soldiers.”

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took a jibe at Vijayvargiya and said is this what the BJP meant when it launched the Main Bhi Chowkidaar campaign before the 2019 general polls.

Another party veteran KC Venugopal also took a jibe at the BJP leader and said finally someone from BJP clarified what this scheme means.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra lashed out on Twitter after Vijayvargiya said that he would give priority to Agnipath recruits for security jobs at his BJP office.