Protests over Agnipath scheme: Giriraj Singh attacks RJD for arson, violence in Bihar

Amid widespread protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme in Bihar, BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday blamed the Rashtriya Janata Dal for arson and violence, and said the opposition party will have to answer for its actions.

Amid widespread protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme in Bihar, BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday blamed the Rashtriya Janata Dal for arson and violence, and said the opposition party will have to answer for its actions. Singh also urged state governments to identify non-students in the protests, which have also erupted in different parts of the country, and alleged that some political parties have been using students as shield to destroy public assets.

''Biharis are dying in RJD's angry protests in which public properties are also being burnt. The RJD will have to answer to Bihar,'' said Singh, an MP from Begusarai.

Singh strongly supported the new recruitment scheme for the armed forces, saying even though youngsters who will be discharged after four years, they will be skilled for getting new jobs. Protests have erupted in several states since Wednesday against the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans into the army, the navy and the air force for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits.