The Congress on Friday accused the Government of involving defence and related agencies in propagation of its schemes, alleging that the Centre is using the Army for its political agenda and weakening it.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress’ Ex-Servicemen Department chief Col (retd) Rohit Chaudhry said this step of the government is an “abuse of power” and is illegal.
“In a bid to promote its politics, the (Narendra) Modi government has handed over posters of government schemes to the Army. The Defense Department has issued a circular, under which 822 selfie points related to the schemes of Modi government will be set up in the country. Instructions have been given to the security agencies of the country to set up these,” Chaudhry claimed.
“Will our country’s soldiers now campaign for the BJP and PM Modi. Have we lowered the stature of the Army so much? The soldiers who stand at the border of the country in very difficult conditions, will now promote the schemes of Modi government?” he said.
The Army, Air Force and Navy have not displayed this order on their website which means they consider it illegal, Chaudhry said.
“People who come under the Army Act, Navy Act, Air Force Act are prohibited from campaigning for any kind of political party...Modi government is insulting our soldiers. Both Army and soldiers are the heritage of the country. They are not the personal property of any political party,” Chaudhry said. The government is attacking the Army and weakening it, he alleged.
Earlier this week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had accused the government of using the Army “politically” for elections and claimed the ruling party has hurt its dignity by “capitalising on the popularity of soldiers”.
The party also took a swipe at the government over the changes in the new licensing norms to import IT hardware products such as laptops, saying it was yet another example of the Modi government’s ‘First Act, Subsequently Think’ approach.
The opposition party’s dig came after the government tweaked the licensing norms to import IT hardware products like laptops and computers and put in place an online authorisation system for importers of these goods.
After taking into account the concerns of stakeholders of the sector, some “tweaking” in the policy was made and an end-to-end online system was launched for importers, an official said on Thursday.
“Yet another example of Modi Govt’s FAST (First Act, Subsequently Think) approach: On August 3, 2023 mandatory licensing system was announced for imports of electronic goods like laptops & tablets. Expectedly, the announcement was widely and rightly criticized,” Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh said.
“On August 4, 2023 the government deferred the licensing system by introducing a three-month-long transition period. On October 13, 2023, complete withdrawal of laptop import restrictions announced. So this is the cycle. Announce then, Defer then, Withdraw (sic),” Ramesh said.