Political parties flay Gen Rawat’s appointment

Even before the row over appointing Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as interim director of the CBI could die down, the Modi government has countered a fresh controversy on its decision to appoint Lt General Bipin Rawat as the new Army chief by superseding Lt General Praveen Bakshi and Lt Genenral PM Harizwas.

The Congress and the Left have questioned the Government on its motive behind the appointment of Lt Gen Rawat.

Citing the dynamics and hierarchy embedded in every institution, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “With all due respect to Gen Rawat’s professionalism and no personal animus towards anybody, there is a legitimate question as to why that supersession has taken place...Did the government have anything against them? Was their professionalism in question? What was the reason and I guess with the army being a public institution, the country deserves those answers.”

When reminded of the previous instance of supersession in 1983 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who gave the reins of the Army in the hands of Gen AS Vaidya, superseding Lt Gen S K Sinha, Tiwari called it “complete nonsense”. “ Every situation has its own context and, therefore nothing can be extrapolated out of context in order to justify a supersession. So, therefore the government needs to answer this legitimate question as to why these senior army commanders were superseded,” he said.

CPI leader D Raja and former Army Chief General Shankar Roy Chowdhury have also questioned the appointment.

DIFFERENT NOTE

Former Army Chief Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury said he differs with Defence Minister Parrikar’s assumption that operational experience in one type of terrain was found relevant in Gen Rawat’s case. The BJP, however, lashed out at the Opposition reaction.