New Delhi: The Congress yesterday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the circumstances behind the appointment of Lt Gen Bipin Rawat as the new Army Chief superseding seniors.
"We would like to ask the Prime Minister what was the compelling reason why this supersession has taken place. Why the principle of seniority, which has held now for almost two decades, was not respected," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told a press conference here.
"Is it that these officers who have been superseded were unqualified in any manner or is it whimsical cherry-picking which has been done by the BJP-led government?
"Not only is this supersession unprecedented, probably this has happened for the first time that three senior Generals (Commanding different armies) have been superseded," Tewari added.
The government on Saturday appointed Lt Gen Rawat as the new Army Chief and Air Marshal B S Dhanoa as the new chief of the Indian Air Force.
The appointment of Lt Gen Rawat has ignored the seniority of Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Southern Army Commander Lt Gen P M Hariz who have spent longer years in service.
"It is not the first time this government has done this. The appointment or the non-appointment of a full-time Enforcement Director, the ad-hoc appointment in the CBI, which has been questioned by the Supreme Court, is an extremely serious matter which shows this government has scant regard for institutional integrity.
"Why is there a delay in the notification for the next Chief Justice of India?"
Chief Justice T S Thakur is retiring on January 3. The government is yet to announce the next Chief Justice.
The CPI also accused the Modi government of creating controversies over appointments to top posts and said the army should not be dragged into a row.
"This has become controversial and all these are in public domain... It is unfortunate. The army should not be drawn into controversy," Communist Party of India leader D Raja said.
"It is for the government to explain why this has been done? Why these appointments should become controversial?
"It is not only about the appointment of army chief, but even the appointment of the CVC, the CBI and all the other top appointments are becoming controversial these days," Raja said.
The CPI leader said he doesn't know how the senior officers in the army are going to react over this issue.
