Govt set to announce Lt Gen Suhag as next Army chief despite BJP objections - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: After getting the Election Commission's nod despite BJP's charges of impropriety, the government is now all set to name Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army chief after General Bikram Singh, who retires on July 31.
Though a new government is likely to come into office after the Lok Sabha results on May 16, the UPA government's stand is that it went by the long-standing convention of announcing a new service chief "at least two months in advance" while adhering to the seniority principle in the armed forces.
The Election Commission gave the green signal for announcement of the next Army chief's name to the defence ministry on Monday, following which the file was sent to the appointments committee of the cabinet for the final nod.
The BJP had earlier complained to the Election Commission that the UPA regime was showing undue haste in declaring the new Army chief before it demitted office in mid-May.
BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Ghaziabad and former Army chief Gen V K Singh, in particular, kept up his sharp attack against the Bikram-Suhag line of succession in the Army.
Incidentally, if Lt Gen Suhag, a Gorkha Rifles officer, had been overlooked, the second seniormost serving lieutenant general, Southern Army Command chief Ashok Singh, would have been the frontrunner for the chief's post. Lt Gen Ashok Singh's son is married to Gen V K Singh's daughter, as earlier reported by TOI.
Even since Admiral R K Dhowan superseded Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha to become the Navy chief on April 17, the 1.18-million strong Army was all agog over whether its own chain of succession would also undergo a change, especially with Gen V K Singh wading into the battle to hurl accusations against Lt Gen Suhag.
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 V K Singh retired in May 2012, following a messy battle over his actual date of birth with the UPA government, Gen Bikram Singh had lifted the DV ban on Lt Gen Suhag, clearing his promotions as the Eastern Army commander and then the vice-chief, with defence minister A K Antony's concurrence.
Over the years, new service chiefs have been named "58 to 89 days" in advance, with the seniormost lieutenant general, vice-admiral or Air Marshal virtually always making it to the top post.
The only two prominent supersession cases were when Lt Gen S K Sinha was overlooked by Indira Gandhi to make General A S Vaidya the Army chief in 1983, and Air Chief Marshal S K Mehra became IAF chief by superseding Air Marshal M M Singh in 1988. Both Sinha and Singh had then promptly resigned.
NEW DELHI: After getting the Election Commission's nod despite BJP's charges of impropriety, the government is now all set to name Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army chief after General Bikram Singh, who retires on July 31.
Though a new government is likely to come into office after the Lok Sabha results on May 16, the UPA government's stand is that it went by the long-standing convention of announcing a new service chief "at least two months in advance" while adhering to the seniority principle in the armed forces.
The Election Commission gave the green signal for announcement of the next Army chief's name to the defence ministry on Monday, following which the file was sent to the appointments committee of the cabinet for the final nod.
The BJP had earlier complained to the Election Commission that the UPA regime was showing undue haste in declaring the new Army chief before it demitted office in mid-May.
BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Ghaziabad and former Army chief Gen V K Singh, in particular, kept up his sharp attack against the Bikram-Suhag line of succession in the Army.
Incidentally, if Lt Gen Suhag, a Gorkha Rifles officer, had been overlooked, the second seniormost serving lieutenant general, Southern Army Command chief Ashok Singh, would have been the frontrunner for the chief's post. Lt Gen Ashok Singh's son is married to Gen V K Singh's daughter, as earlier reported by TOI.
Even since Admiral R K Dhowan superseded Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha to become the Navy chief on April 17, the 1.18-million strong Army was all agog over whether its own chain of succession would also undergo a change, especially with Gen V K Singh wading into the battle to hurl accusations against Lt Gen Suhag.
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 V K Singh retired in May 2012, following a messy battle over his actual date of birth with the UPA government, Gen Bikram Singh had lifted the DV ban on Lt Gen Suhag, clearing his promotions as the Eastern Army commander and then the vice-chief, with defence minister A K Antony's concurrence.
Over the years, new service chiefs have been named "58 to 89 days" in advance, with the seniormost lieutenant general, vice-admiral or Air Marshal virtually always making it to the top post.
The only two prominent supersession cases were when Lt Gen S K Sinha was overlooked by Indira Gandhi to make General A S Vaidya the Army chief in 1983, and Air Chief Marshal S K Mehra became IAF chief by superseding Air Marshal M M Singh in 1988. Both Sinha and Singh had then promptly resigned.
