Appointment of new army chief: Congress, Left attack PM; BJP hits back

New Delhi : Congress and Left party raised concerns and asked Prime Minister to reveal the "compelling reasons" behind the appointment of new army chief, hitting back BJP said that leaders should not politicise the matter related to defence forces.

Manish Tewari (Congress leader) alleged BJP of playing politics with institutions and also in the army, terming the appointment as "whimsical cherry picking".

His comments came a day after the government appointed Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Bipin Rawat as the new army chief superseding his two senior officers -- Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Southern Army Command chief Lt Gen P M Hariz.

CPI leader D Raja also attacked government and claimed that the saffron party’s decision over the appointment in the army, judiciary or those of CVC, acting CBI director and to Central Information Commission have become controversial.

BJP, on the other hand, slammed Congress and said that there should be no politics on defence forces and asserted that Lt Gen Rawat has been elevated keeping in mind the current security scenario.