Chidambaram criticised Election Commission, said egregiously wrong

Chidambaram stated on Thursday that the Election Commission was “egregiously wrong” in instructing his party not to ‘politicise’ the Agnipath scheme, emphasising that it is an Opposition party’s right to critique government policies.

P. Chidambaram criticised Election Commission

On Wednesday, the Election Commission criticised both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, advising them to avoid campaigning based on caste, community, language, and religion.

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Additionally, the EC cautioned the Congress against politicising the defence forces and making potentially divisive comments about the socio-economic makeup of the armed forces. This warning was in response to statements made by senior Congress leaders regarding the Agnipath scheme.

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P. Chidambaram further argued on Agniveer

In a post on X, Mr. Chidambaram criticised the ECI’s directive for the Congress party not to ‘politicise’ the Agnipath scheme.

“What does ‘politicize’ mean? Is the ECI implying ‘criticise’? Agniveer is a scheme, a product of government policy. It is the right of an Opposition political party to critique a government policy and state that, if elected to power, the scheme will be abolished,” the former Union minister stated.

Mr. Chidambaram further argued that ‘Agniveer’ creates two categories of soldiers who fight together, and that is wrong.

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“Agniveer” employs young men for four years and then leaves them without a job or a pension, which is unjust, he said.

“Agniveer was opposed by the Army, yet the government imposed the scheme on them, which is also wrong. Therefore, the Agniveer scheme must be scrapped,” he asserted.

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“The ECI was egregiously wrong in directing the Congress party, and as a citizen, it is my right to state that the ECI was egregiously wrong,” Mr. Chidambaram said.