The one party that could have used army chief Gen VK Singh’s letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh seems to be pondering over the matter.
The one party that could have used army chief Gen VK Singh’s letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh seems to be pondering over the matter. The BJP, the principal opposition party, is not willing to admit that it is letting the government off the hook. It has been qualifying its assertions.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Thursday vehemently denied that her party was soft on the government in this matter. She said the BJP would press the government for answers and explanations and that it would be discussed when parliament meets in the third week of April after the recess. She said that neither she nor her party colleagues could intervene because Congress members from Telangana walked into the well of the House and disrupted the proceedings on Wednesday and Thursday.
A senior BJP MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “He has hurt the image of the army by going public with the bribe allegation and the state of defence unpreparedness.” There is the perception that the general is speaking out of a sense of personal hurt and pique and that it had detracted from the seriousness of what he had to say.
On Wednesday, Swaraj told reporters during an informal chat that the general could have conveyed his concerns in a meeting with the prime minister instead of writing to him. She felt that there was always the possibility, however remote, of the letter being leaked. She also was of the view that it would create scare in the country if it was trumpeted as it was on some of the television news channels that the Indian army was without ammunition.
Party spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Prakash Javadekar told reporters on Thursday, “Indecision has become the hallmark of the UPA regime, be it the issue of defence preparedness or the issue of Telangana.” He said that what the general has written is absolutely true. The House consultative committee for the ministry of defence, of which he is a member, has noted many times that defence preparedness is in a sad shape.
At the moment, the BJP does not seem to be too sure whether it can use Gen Singh’s bribery allegation and his letter to the PM to nail the government’s incapacity. There has been no demand for the resignation of defence minister AK Antony though the party is convinced that he is the most indecisive man and that he has mishandled the general’s issue.
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