Vice Admiral Anil Chopra frontrunner for Navy chief's post

NEW DELHI: After the sudden resignation of Admiral DK Joshi, Eastern Naval Commander Vice Admiral Anil Chopra is the front-runner to succeed him as the next Navy chief.

His name along with Acting Navy Chief Vice Admiral Robin Dhowan and Western Navy Commander Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha will be considered by the government for the appointment as the regular Navy chief.

Western Naval Commander Sinha has been under scanner after the number of accidents that have taken place under his command, the issue over which Admiral Joshi resigned from service.

He was even summoned to the Naval headquarters last month after a series of mishaps involving naval warships there and was pulled up by Admiral Joshi in his office.

The Defence Ministry is also miffed with him but it is not clear whether action would be initiated against him or not.

The sudden decision by the Navy chief will also result in the change in the line of succession of the force as Southern Naval Commander Vice Admiral Satish Soni was supposed to succeed Joshi in August 2015.