Modi said the Agnipath recruitment scheme was an example of necessary reforms undertaken by the Army and he accused the opposition of politicising the recruitment process in order to keep the average age in the military low.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other party leaders accused the prime minister of indulging in "petty politics" over the Agnipath issue and said the prime minister's remarks that his government implemented the scheme at the behest of the Army was a "blatant lie".

"It is very unfortunate and deplorable that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas. No Prime Minister has ever done this before," Kharge said.

"Modi ji is saying that his government implemented the Agnipath scheme at the behest of the Army. This is a blatant lie and an unforgivable insult to our valiant armed forces. Modi ji, it is you who is spreading lies!" he said in a post on X.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused Modi of "lying" even on Kargil Vijay Diwas.

"He (Modi) says the Agnipath/Agniveer scheme was introduced by the Army. General MM Naravane, who was Army chief at that time, has written that the scheme came as a complete surprise to the Army and as a 'bolt from the blue' to the Navy and Air Force. Modi is now trying to evade responsibility for this disastrous scheme," he said in a post on X.

Congress MP Vivek Tankha claimed the scheme was brought with very little consultation. Those consulted did not have to courage to suggest changes, he alleged.

"You kept the absorption rate at 25 per cent which is very low. If it was 50 per cent or 75 per cent, people may not have opposed it... how can you abandon them (Agniveers) after four years," he asked.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji said the scheme needs to be reviewed as it does not provide any social security to the Agniveers.

"I salute the martyrs of Kargil. Whenever foreign nations have attacked us, our brave soldiers have sacrificed their lives," she said. 

"But there should be a review of the Agniveer scheme. We should think about the soldiers on whom the whole nation of 140 crore people relies. What would happen to them after four years when they become unemployed?" the JMM MP posed.

The Trinamool Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen dismissed the prime minister's remarks that the Agniveer scheme is intended to keep the force young.

 "The Army has always been young, perhaps the prime minister does not know... They get voluntary retirement while they are young. They serve the nation, we respect them," she said. "Being in the Army was a full-time job. But the Agnipath-Agniveer (scheme) ended that. We will keep protesting against the scheme," Sen said. 

(With PTI Inputs)