NEW DELHI: While most of the political parties on Monday said Army Chief Gen V K Singh should have taken immediate action when he was offered bribe, the BJP, going a step ahead, said Defence Minister A K Antony’s ‘indecision could have been a reason for his not registering a case immediately’.
“I have known the Defence Minister longer than I have known the Army Chief. A K Antony specialises in the art of indecision.... His style of functioning is one of silence inaction and indecisiveness. The consequences of this will have to be borne by the Armed Forces.... The Ministry of Defence cannot function like this,” said senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh on Monday. He asked the Prime Minister to ‘come clean’ on the allegations levelled by Gen Singh that he was offered `14-crore bribe for an equipment deal. He also asked Antony to issue a clarification on the issue.
He wanted to know why Gen Singh did not initiate action earlier, when he was offered the bribe. “Why did he not immediately call his military police and put this man in a locker. This is an insult to the Army. Why did he choose instead to go to the Defence Minister,” said Jaswant.
Likewise, the Congress wanted to know why Gen Singh chose to be quiet for so long. “It is really unfortunate. Being a government official and head of the Indian Army, he should have registered an FIR if someone came to him and offered bribe,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.
The CPI questioned how come the General chose to reveal the incident only now. “Why is he telling all these things now? What was he doing all along in the past? How come somebody has approached a General and tried to bribe him? When he can go to the Supreme Court for his age row, why could he not tell this information to the country? These are all genuine issues, which the General should answer,” said CPI leader D Raja.