Next Army chief’s selection turns hot after supersession in Navy - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Army is all agog over who will be its new chief after General Bikram Singh retires on July 31, in the backdrop of the government junking the long-standing seniority principle to appoint Admiral Robin Dhowan as the new Navy chief on Thursday.
Western Naval Command chief (WNC) Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, who was superseded by Admiral Dhowan, has already put in his papers on the ground that he cannot serve under an officer six months junior to him.
If the government cannot do "justice" to him, Vice Admiral Sinha has demanded his "voluntary retirement" be approved immediately. "Vice Admiral Sinha's letter was hand delivered in South Block on Thursday evening. It will be processed as per laid-down procedures next week," said a defence ministry official.
The Navy's line of succession has gone for a toss because of Admiral DK Joshi's resignation after a string of warship mishaps, 17 months before his tenure was to end, and Admiral Dhowan's belated appointment as his successor, as reported earlier by TOI.
Now, the Army is concerned about its own fate. A Service chief is usually named two months before the incumbent retires, with the senior-most Lt General, Vice Admiral or Air Marshal virtually always making it to the top post since supersession is extremely rare. Going by this, present vice-chief Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag is slated to take over the reins of the 1.18-million strong Army on August 1.
But the BJP has already fired a warning shot that the UPA regime should not be in a "hurry" to name the new Army chief before it demits office in May. "The model code of conduct is in place. There is hardly a month to go for the Lok Sabha results. I am not going into the specifics of any name but what is the hurry to appoint an Army chief, or a Lokpal for that matter," said senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Former Army chief Gen VK Singh, who is now the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Ghaziabad, however, has made his strong aversion to the Bikram-Suhag line of succession quite clear several times.
Gen V K Singh had imposed a discipline and vigilance (DV) promotion ban on Lt-Gen Suhag just before retiring as the Army chief in 2012. He charged Lt Gen Suhag with "abdicating responsibility'' in handling a botched operation by an intelligence and surveillance unit under him as the 3 Corps commander in Dimapur.
But soon after Gen VK Singh retired in May 2012, after a messy battle with the UPA government over his age issue, Gen Bikram Singh lifted the DV ban on Lt Gen Suhag, clearing his promotions as the Eastern Army commander and then the vice-chief, with defence minister AK Antony's concurrence. Incidentally, the second senior-most serving Lt Gen is Southern Army Command chief Ashok Singh, whose son is married to Gen VK Singh's daughter.
Senior military officers say there should be "no attempt to play politics" with the armed forces, which are justifiably proud of their apolitical and secular credentials. "Supersession has already taken place in the Navy. All political parties should be very careful about handling the succession in Army," said an officer.
NEW DELHI: The Army is all agog over who will be its new chief after General Bikram Singh retires on July 31, in the backdrop of the government junking the long-standing seniority principle to appoint Admiral Robin Dhowan as the new Navy chief on Thursday.
Western Naval Command chief (WNC) Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, who was superseded by Admiral Dhowan, has already put in his papers on the ground that he cannot serve under an officer six months junior to him.
If the government cannot do "justice" to him, Vice Admiral Sinha has demanded his "voluntary retirement" be approved immediately. "Vice Admiral Sinha's letter was hand delivered in South Block on Thursday evening. It will be processed as per laid-down procedures next week," said a defence ministry official.
The Navy's line of succession has gone for a toss because of Admiral DK Joshi's resignation after a string of warship mishaps, 17 months before his tenure was to end, and Admiral Dhowan's belated appointment as his successor, as reported earlier by TOI.
Now, the Army is concerned about its own fate. A Service chief is usually named two months before the incumbent retires, with the senior-most Lt General, Vice Admiral or Air Marshal virtually always making it to the top post since supersession is extremely rare. Going by this, present vice-chief Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag is slated to take over the reins of the 1.18-million strong Army on August 1.
But the BJP has already fired a warning shot that the UPA regime should not be in a "hurry" to name the new Army chief before it demits office in May. "The model code of conduct is in place. There is hardly a month to go for the Lok Sabha results. I am not going into the specifics of any name but what is the hurry to appoint an Army chief, or a Lokpal for that matter," said senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Former Army chief Gen VK Singh, who is now the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Ghaziabad, however, has made his strong aversion to the Bikram-Suhag line of succession quite clear several times.
Gen V K Singh had imposed a discipline and vigilance (DV) promotion ban on Lt-Gen Suhag just before retiring as the Army chief in 2012. He charged Lt Gen Suhag with "abdicating responsibility'' in handling a botched operation by an intelligence and surveillance unit under him as the 3 Corps commander in Dimapur.
But soon after Gen VK Singh retired in May 2012, after a messy battle with the UPA government over his age issue, Gen Bikram Singh lifted the DV ban on Lt Gen Suhag, clearing his promotions as the Eastern Army commander and then the vice-chief, with defence minister AK Antony's concurrence. Incidentally, the second senior-most serving Lt Gen is Southern Army Command chief Ashok Singh, whose son is married to Gen VK Singh's daughter.
Senior military officers say there should be "no attempt to play politics" with the armed forces, which are justifiably proud of their apolitical and secular credentials. "Supersession has already taken place in the Navy. All political parties should be very careful about handling the succession in Army," said an officer.
