Nitish Kumar, JD(U) spokesman differ on new Army chief

PATNA: A day after JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi termed the appointment of the new Army chief as a sign of "undeclared Emergency", party chief Nitish Kumar aired his disagreement saying a needless controversy was growing around the issue. "The Army and judiciary should be kept out of controversies," Nitish said here on Monday, virtually questioning party general secretary Tyagi's statement on the matter. Tyagi had told reporters in New Del hi on Sunday that Indira Gandhi as PM had appointed General A S Vaidya as Army chief, ignoring the seniority of Lt Gen S K Sinha.

The CM's statement caught many, including his confidants, by surprise for the second time in a month. Earlier, Nitish had supported the Centre's demonetisation move unilaterally, contradicting the opinion of ex-JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav.

"We know Nitish supports the Centre on issues of na tional importance -be it GST, demonetisation or cross border terrorism. But his re action to the appointment of new Army chief is a matter of surprise," said a JDU M MLC.

The Centre has appointed Lt Gen Bipin Rawat as new Army chief superseding two senior officers. When asked for his comments, Nitish had said, "The matter should not be politicised. There was a process for making appointments on such posts, and it should be followed."

Tyagi, recalling the Indira's regime, had said, "Mrs Gandhi had also appointed Justice A N Ray as Chief Justice by superseding Justice Mohd Hidayatullah. This government is doing similar things."