Anti-Modi people turning their political allergy into conspiracy against youth: Naqvi targets Opposition over Agnipath protests

In the wake of violent protests over the Agnipath scheme, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday hit out at the Opposition, saying that some people with "prejudiced mindset" were trying to convert their "craze of political allergy" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi into a conspiracy against the positive energy of the country's youth.

He also said that youngsters should not allow any "destructive obstacle" to come into the "perfect path" of their bright future.

The Minority Affairs Minister was speaking to reporters after flagging off the first batch of Haj pilgrims from Maharashtra at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here.

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"Some people with prejudiced mindset are trying to convert their craze of political allergy against PM Narendra Modi into a conspiracy against the positive energy of the country's youth. But we should not allow such a conspiracy to succeed at any cost," he said while referring to the violence over Agnipath, the scheme unveiled by the government on Tuesday for short-term recruitment into the country's three armed forces.

The Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha said the youths of the country should not allow any "confusion" to dominate the "promotion" of their future.

"We have full confidence in the positive energy of the country's youth and their nationalism," he said.

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Unveiling the Agnipath scheme, the government had said youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of the recruits will be retained for regular service. The upper age limit was raised to 23 years on Thursday as violent protests against the new model for enrolment of soldiers into the Army, Navy and Air Force erupted in parts of the country.

A man was shot dead in police firing in Telangana's Secunderabad, trains went up in flames, and public and private vehicles were attacked, as railway stations and highways turned into battlegrounds in many states on Friday amid burgeoning protests against Agnipath.