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Former Army Chief General V K Singh, who was engaged in a long-drawn battle with the government over his age issue, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, saying it is the only "nationalist" party that he wants to see in power.
Gen Singh, who joined BJP along with a number of other ex-servicemen in presence of party President Rajnath Singh, said the troops should support it so that a "stable, strong and nationalist" government is formed.
"I saw only BJP as a nationalist party," he said while explaining the reason for joining the party.
"We, who have served on borders, should work with nationalist forces. So, we have decided to move with BJP to bring a government, which is stable, strong and takes decisions in national interest,” said the 63-year-old who retired in May 2012.
He expressed confidence that the enthusiasm of the servicemen would make BJP stronger. Welcoming him into BJP, Rajnath Singh said if BJP came to power, it would take good care of the armed forces.
He used the occasion to attack the United Progressive Alliance government, saying it has not looked after the armed forces well. In this context, he cited the recent mishaps involving the Navy. The BJP chief also attacked the government over ceasefire violations by Pakistan, including beheading of two Indian soldiers and intrusions by China. Gen (retd) joined BJP months after he shared dais with its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at an ex-servicemen rally in Rewari in Haryana.
The BJP chief also attacked the government over ‘one-rank, one-pension’ decision, saying it came too late.
He said it was BJP veteran L K Advani who had first raised the demand and the UPA government had accepted it only at the time of the elections.
Rajnath Singh also said the defence forces needed modernisation that was not being done. Stressing the need for indigenous production of weapons, he wondered if India could send a spacecraft to Mars, why could it not produce defence equipments.
He said the country did not have a war memorial and promised the BJP would build it if it comes to power.
The BJP chief said the emotion towards the people towards armed force personnel was such that Bollywood actress Rakhi Sawant came on her own to the BJP headquarters with a wish to tie a ‘rakhi’ to soldiers. Gen (retd) V K Singh’s tenure as the Army Chief was marked by a controversy over his age. He became the first serving chief to drag the government to the court over his age issue, which was decided in favour of the government by the Supreme Court.
The dispute over his age arose because he had two sets of date of birth — May 10,1950 and May 10,1951 — in his official records.
Government had recognised 1950 as his official date while he was insisting that it should be 1951, which would give him 10 months more in service.
Soon after retirement, Gen Singh had adopted an anti-government stance and blamed the bureaucracy and the Prime Minister’s Office for creating troubles for him during his tenure.
