Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday reached his parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli, where he met the family members of Kirti Chakra winner Captain Anshuman Singh.

Gandhi had called the martyr’s family from Lucknow to meet him. “We are sad that our son has left us all in the lurch when the family needed him. I want to live with this pain all my life and I want more pain so that I can remember my son,” the martyr captain’s mother, Manju Singh, said after meeting Rahul Gandhi.

“An official said that Rahul Gandhi met the family members of Captain Anshuman Singh in the Bhuemau Guest House in Rae Bareli.

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday conferred the Kirti Chakra on the martyrdom of Captain Anshuman Singh to the late officer’s wife, Smriti, and mother Manju Singh at the Defense Investiture Ceremony in Delhi. This is the second highest award given for bravery in peacetime. Captain Singh was martyred in July last year while saving people from a fierce fire.

“During the meeting with Rahul Gandhi, we talked about Agniveer. There should not be two types of armies. The government is expected to listen to Rahul Gandhi and consider it. Rahul said that he has requested the government to end the Agniveer scheme, which is not fair to the army. The country is with us. I talked to Rahul Gandhi about the families of the martyrs, he will do something for those families,” Manju Singh said.

Insisting on doing away the Agniveer scheme in army recruitment, Manju Singh said: “We are from a military family; whether it is the ruling party or the opposition, we will fight everyone and we request the government with folded hands to stop the Agniveer scheme, because recruitment in the army only for four years is not right.”

During his one-day visit, Rahul also met workers and representatives of various organisations. Thereafter, he went to the Gandhi Shaheed Smarak, where he paid tributes to the martyrs and also planted a sapling. The Congress MP also visited the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rae Bareli, where he enquired about the well-being of the patients.

Gandhi returned from Imphal, the capital of Manipur, on Tuesday and landed at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport in Lucknow. He then left for Rae Bareli by road. Gandhi offered prayers at the Churwa Hanuman temple near Bachhrawan in Rae Bareli.

The Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress said in a post on X: “People’s leader Rahul Gandhi offered prayers at the Churwa Hanuman temple in Rae Bareli and prayed to Lord Hanuman for the happiness, peace and prosperity of the country.”

In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, Rahul won the Rae Bareli seat by a margin of over 3.90 lakh votes. After winning the election, he held a meeting with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and workers.