BJP, AAP slam govt, V K Singh for ‘disturbing’ lack of trust

BJP leaders said Friday’s report in The Indian Express — in which the then DGMO Lt Gen A K Choudhary had confirmed that the government was indeed worried about the troop movement — raises serious concerns about the security of the country and also the state of the government.

“Today’s revelations show that The Indian Express story was based on some real developments in the government. This has been established by today’s story. We are proud of the Indian Army’s apolitical character but it was panic in the top levels of the government which is really reflective of what happened. Government panicked, that is important to note,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.

The AAP’s Manish Sisodia accused the then Army chief of lying.

“It is terrible that a serving Army chief was lying to the country. This is a blow for the entire Army establishment. Even when The Indian Express first did the story in April 2012, it was shocking, it left one wondering what has been happening in this country,” the former Delhi minister said. “But now that it has transpired that both the government and the Army chief have chosen to keep the country in the dark on something as crucial as this, it is very unfortunate.”

Demanding that the government come clean on the follow-up action taken on the troop movement and what warranted that action, he added that incidents such as these “shake one’s faith in the institutions of this country and force you to wonder what else they might be lying about”.

Former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said The Indian Express report was “very disturbing”.

“The government should take the people of the country into confidence. It is a very sensitive issue concerning the military and security of the country. It is a serious matter and the government should clarify what the truth is,” Naidu told reporters.

His party colleague and BJP deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad too echoed similar sentiments and stressed the need to correct the mistrust between the Army and the government.

“The distrust between the government and the Army is a matter of serious concern. Army protects the nation and assures to protect its citizen. If these type of reports come, it is a matter of serious concern,” Prasad told reporters outside Parliament. “We need to correct it and we will correct it if we come to power.”

The Congress chose not to react.

“The defence minister had spoken earlier, he has spoken today and the party has nothing to add or subtract,” said Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi.