Modi government rolls back Agnipath military scheme ahead of elections, reversing contested recruitment reform

India's government has reversed its Agnipath military recruitment scheme, which it introduced with significant fanfare but faced sustained opposition from soldiers and rural constituencies. In his analysis for ThePrint, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta characterizes the reversal as a poll-eve policy capitulation, arguing it reflects poor planning and political miscalculation across two major reforms—the farm laws and Agnipath—that angered key voting blocs the ruling coalition had previously relied on. Gupta contends the government failed to anticipate backlash from Hindi-heartland farmers and military-connected families.