The Congress on Friday declared that the Agnipath scheme would have to be scrapped now or later as Rahul Gandhi blasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not paying heed to the sentiments of decorated soldiers. Posting the message of Captain Bana Singh, winner of India’s highest military award Param Vir Chakra, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “On one hand is the country’s Paramvir and on the other hand is the Prime Minister’s arrogance and dictatorship. Will only friends (mitron) be heard in new India, not the country’s brave soldiers?”

Rahul used the word “mitron” to make it absolutely clear that he was referring to the Prime Minister’s capitalist friends.

Captain Bana Singh, who lives in Jammu, had put out a tweet in which he said: “Save the country. Agnipath scheme will badly damage us. India is going through a crucial stage. Youngsters are the future of our motherland.”

The tweet, which went viral, was later deleted. Singh said he decided to delete it because the government had made up its mind, and one man’s opinion did not matter.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “The fact that a Param Vir Chakra awardee had to delete an honest, heartfelt tweet against Agnipath scheme demonstrates that in Modi India not only freedom of speech, but freedom after speech is also under peril.”

Many retired generals, some of them known as top grade military strategists, have opposed the Agnipath scheme.

The Congress on Friday fielded Lieutenant Colonel Manvendra Singh, son of veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh, to speak about the scheme. He said: “The government is playing with national security and the future of India’s youth. It is a big fraud on the youth aspiring to join the armed forces. This scheme will not succeed. The government has only two options. Either let the notification lapse or scrap it after four years.”

Singh, who is considered an authority on defence issues and is likely to be appointed Congress spokesperson: said: “Around 50,000 youths had already cleared physical and medical tests and were waiting for written examination. This process has now been scrapped. The state quota has also been abolished. There will now be two types of soldiers: one, fully trained, with allowances, perks and pension while the Agniveers will have no such privileges. This duality of privileges will create a dangerous situation.”

Singh added: “Agniveers will suffer from lack of confidence and will harm the feelings of unity with the fully trained soldiers. The havildar will put Agniveer to extreme rigour because of lack of his training. He will not be treated as combat-ready. I am not against reforms, but it cannot be done surreptitiously, without consultation.”

Arguing that Agnipath was a political decision, he also asked why has the Chief of Defence Staff not been appointed so far.

“The selection criteria were changed. Now there is a pool of 200 officers. Does that mean the Modi government has no faith in the three service chiefs. Are they not of the right calibre? Or the government is determined to appoint a like-minded CDS? This is bad for the soldiers.”