Annandale row: Shanta joins in,says nation important than cricket

Urging leaders to refrain from making such statements as this will have a demoralising affect on the Army,Kumar added: “No military official should have released any statement against the chief minister. If at all there has been a mistake from their side,the statements issued by leaders in retaliation were also unfortunate. Allegation of land mafia on one side and indiscipline in Army on another side was unfortunate and a symbol of childish behaviour of Indian democracy.”

Kumar also conveyed his displeasure over the Army getting increasingly involved in public controversies like the Army chief’s date of birth row. “Indian democracy seems to be becoming immature and silly day by day. Earlier,controversy regarding the date of birth was a public issue for months and now,Annadale ground has become a matter of hot discussion,” he said.

Meanwhile,the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) — a breakaway group of the BJP — has also taken a strong exception to the controversy and endorsed statements that had claimed that land mafia was behind the Annandale drive.