Bar army chiefs from contesting polls for 5 years after retirement: Tarun Gogoi
, ET Bureau|
Feb 24, 2018, 10.42 PM IST
GUWAHATI: The chief of the army should not be allowed to contest elections for five years after retirement to discourage generals from cozying up to the ruling party, former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has suggested.
Gogoi told this to reporters on Friday in the context of the controversy over Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat's statement on the growth of the Muslim-centric All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam, which was criticised by many as politically loaded.
"This is to ensure they do not hobnob with the ruling party towards the end of their service to fulfil their political ambitions," the veteran Congress leader said.
“After VK Singh there is now a growing tendency among generals to get into politics post retirement,” he added, referring to the present union minister of state for external affairs who immediately after his retirement as army chief in 2014 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and won Lok Sabha elections from Ghaziabad.
General Rawat at a DRDO function earlier this week commented on the growth of Badaruddin Ajmal's AIUDFin the border state, linking it to influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. AIUDF is the third largest party in the Assam assembly after BJP and Congress, though its seat tally had actually decreased in 2016.
"There is a party called AIUDF. If you look at it, they have grown at a faster rate than the BJP grew over the years. The AIUDF is moving at a faster pace in Assam. Finally, what will be the state of Assam, we will have to take a call," the general was quoted as saying.
While the army was quick to point out that the comment was neither political nor religious, Muslim parties like the AIUDF and AIMIM told him not to exceed his constitutional mandate and the Congress urged him to stay out of politics.
Gogoi told this to reporters on Friday in the context of the controversy over Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat's statement on the growth of the Muslim-centric All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam, which was criticised by many as politically loaded.
"This is to ensure they do not hobnob with the ruling party towards the end of their service to fulfil their political ambitions," the veteran Congress leader said.
“After VK Singh there is now a growing tendency among generals to get into politics post retirement,” he added, referring to the present union minister of state for external affairs who immediately after his retirement as army chief in 2014 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and won Lok Sabha elections from Ghaziabad.
General Rawat at a DRDO function earlier this week commented on the growth of Badaruddin Ajmal's AIUDFin the border state, linking it to influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. AIUDF is the third largest party in the Assam assembly after BJP and Congress, though its seat tally had actually decreased in 2016.
"There is a party called AIUDF. If you look at it, they have grown at a faster rate than the BJP grew over the years. The AIUDF is moving at a faster pace in Assam. Finally, what will be the state of Assam, we will have to take a call," the general was quoted as saying.
While the army was quick to point out that the comment was neither political nor religious, Muslim parties like the AIUDF and AIMIM told him not to exceed his constitutional mandate and the Congress urged him to stay out of politics.
