Patna, June 16 (PTI) A key political aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said the large scale protests against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme appeared to be a "spontaneous" expression of outrage by young Army aspirants.

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JD(U) parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha said that violence was "deplorable" but hastened to add "Besides making an appeal for peace, we can do little".

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"We have been learnt about the angry protests which appear spontaneous," said Kushwaha, who is also a former union minister.

He said in the face of such stiff opposition, JD(U) has urged the Centre to "rethink" the scheme, which proposes contractual employment in the armed forces and compulsory retirement of jawans after four years of service without pensionary benefits.

"If a rethink is not possible, then at least for the time being its implementation should be put on hold", said Kushwaha about the tour of duty scheme which was unveiled by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this week "with immediate effect".

The JD(U) is the largest alliance partner of BJP, which is facing criticism over the new scheme brought by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

The views expressed by Kushwaha were at variance with those of BJP leaders in Bihar like Sushil Kumar Modi who has alleged that "anti-social elements" were on the prowl, masquerading as protesters.

Another BJP leader from Bihar, Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey issued an appeal "beware of instigators" to youths.

Interestingly, the issue has brought JD(U) on the same page with Kumar's bete noire Chirag Paswan who has written to defence minister requesting a rethink on the scheme.

An avowed loyalist of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the son of late LJP founder Ram Vilad Paswan burnt his bridges with the JD(U) when he revolted against Kumar's leadership of the NDA in Bihar in the 2020 assembly polls.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)