Lucknow/Patna: The anti-Agnipath agitation has spread to different districts in Uttar Pradesh and 16 other states across the country. Bihar was initially the epicentre of the agitation, but now, it has spread to Ballia, Saharanpur and Varanasi districts in Uttar Pradesh. In Varanasi, where the agitators laid siege to the main bus stop and vandalised buses parked at the bus station. Hundreds of students took to streets in Lahartara and Chaubeypur. They were carrying the national flag and attacked everything that came in their way, but they damaged the buses and shops. Besides the buses, other vehicles fell prey to the students’ anger. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been blaming the opposition for triggering the violence, but the opposition wants enough resources to run such an agitation. Experts believe that the Centre had not fully discussed the consequences of such a scheme which is related to the future of the country’s youth. “The think tank of the saffron party believes that whatever be the consequences of any policies or schemes, the aura of PM Narendra Modi is such that people of the country have faith in him. The situation has now changed due to the anti-people policies of the Centre for the last eight years,” said a professor of Patna University who requested anonymity.
Read also: Gupta brothers’ yarn has many spins
The BJP think tank believes that the Narendra Modi government implemented demonetisation and the people supported him in the name of black money being unearthed. Then he implemented the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to reduce tax related frauds which actually broke the backbone of small traders, industrialists and retailers. Then he came with the three farm bills which led to a massive agitation and over 800 famers lost their lives and now the Agnipath scheme which the youths believe can make their future darker. All these policies have penalized the common people of the country and now they are not in the mood to take any more burden that the BJP government may try to put on them, say political analysts.
“Narendra Modi during the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election had given a solid assurance to the people to create 2 crore jobs annually and double the income of farmers till 2022. Now, in the eight years gone by he has not only failed to fulfil the promises but the result of his policies went in the opposite directions,” said Shivanand Tiwari, national vice president of the RJD.
