BJP hits back at Congress, Left for questioning army chief's appointment

New Delhi: Hitting back at Congress and the CPI for questioning appointment of Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat as new Army Chief, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Sunday that armed forces should not be dragged into political debate for political gains.

"We condemn the Congress's repeated attempts at dragging armed forces into political debate to suit its narrow political ends," BJP spokesperson G.V.L Narsimha Rao told IANS.

He urged the poltical parties not to politicise the maatter as it could have adverse impact of the morale of armed forces.

"There are some red lines that Congress and Left parties should not cross in national interest which is supreme. But the Congress has been guilty of doing it repeatedly for political purposes," he said.

As the appointment of Lt. Gen. Rawat 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, the Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the circumstances behind the appointment of Rawat while 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 said at a press conference here.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) accused the government of creating controversies over appointments on the top posts and advised that Army should not be dragged into "controversies" everytime.

"This has become controversial and all these are in public domain... it is unfortunate. The Army should not be drawn into controversy," CPI leader D. Raja told IANS.