President Ram Nath Kovind urged to drop cases against youth facing Agnipath agitation-related cases

Senior TRS leader and Vice-Chairman of Telangana State Planning Board B Vinod Kumar on Monday urged the President Ram Nath Kovind to condone the youth who took part in a recent agitation against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme and to let them appear for recruitment tests in the future. The cases against the army aspirants should be withdrawn, he said.

Most of the youth, all in their early 20s, are unemployed poor, he said.

The army aspirants have been waiting for final selection tests after having cleared physical fitness tests. They resorted to violent incidents on the spur of the moment, he said.

Observing that the President has power to even cancel capital punishment awarded to a convict and to convert it into life imprisonment, Kumar said the President should allow those facing cases to appear for future recruitment exams.

The President is the supreme commander of the armed forces, he added.

Kumar, a former Lok Sabha member, on June 25, paid floral tributes to D Rakesh, a young man from Warangal district in Telangana, who died after security personnel opened fire during the violence at Secunderabad Railway Station on June 17.