VK Singh slammed for calling dead army man a Cong worker
DOUBLESPEAK Parrikar takes reconciliatory stand says paper work to be cleared for OROP
NEW DELHI: Striking a combative tone against the Opposition over the suicide of a retired soldier, union minister and former army chief Gen. VK Singh linked exserviceman Ram Kishan Grewal to the Congress, irking the rivals further.
“He was a Congress worker and who fought sarpanch election on a Congress ticket. His suicide is unfortunate,” Singh said, drawing, almost immediately, widespread criticism. He also wanted to know “how did he procure Sulpha tablets and who gave it to him?”
Singh’s comments differed from defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s reconciliatory position. Facing a political crisis over the death of the ex-serviceman, Parrikar focused on removing the bottlenecks in disbursement of the pension for the armed forces.
At a function in Badgam in Jammu & Kashmir, Parikkar said, “There is some technical issue in it. We will soon sort out the paperwork.”
Government sources said 2.06 million eligible pensioners have received disbursements and 100,000 former military personnel were yet to receive benefits under the uniform pension scheme rolled out last year.
Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia, slammed Singh for his insensitive comments. “No citizen has ever heard such an unfortunate statement about a soldier.”
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said VK Singh “insulted Ram Kishan ji.”
On Wednesday, Singh had also sharply reacted to the news of the suicide. “The reason for his suicide being reported is OROP. Don’t know what is his mental state was, needs investigation,” he said on Wednesday. The Congress’s Uttar Pradesh chief Raj Babbar quipped, “His (Singh) mental condition needs to be examined, shameful that such a person writes ‘General’ before his name.”
Meanwhile, Delhi Police on Thursday transferred Grewal’s case to the crime branch. Though a case is yet to be registered, police said the crime branch will conduct inquest proceedings. A senior officer said the crime branch has asked local police for the case records, such as details of the caller who informed the PCR and the names Grewal’s friends who were with him when he committed suicide.
The second minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju targeted Kejriwal and Congress in a series of tweets. “Pls don’t compete to be better dramebaaz? Soldier’s issue is too serious. We live closely with soldiers. Do you know about soldier’s life? (sic)” said Rijiju.
In another tweet, Rijiju said people are intelligent and matured. “Those terrorists sympathisers and vote bank political opportunists will be severely punished by the people,” he posted.