Cong appears unhappy with Amarinder's letter on army chief -Governance Now

Cong appears unhappy with Amarinder's letter on army chief

Congress downplays Captain's remark as personal statement

PTI | January 3, 2012

Congress on Tuesday sought to disapprove of the remarks of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh over the age row involving army chief V K Singh.

"He (Amarinder Singh) had already clarified that this was his personal view. Generally, politicians should not comment on internal affairs of armed forces," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

In a letter written to defence minister A K Antony, former Punjab chief minister had supported the contention of the army chief who is involved in a tussle with government over his date of birth.

Separate records show May 10, 1950 and May 10, 1951 as the general's date of birth. The army chief has consistently claimed that he was born in 1951 and not 1950 as maintained by the defence ministry.

As his letter kicked a fresh controversy pointing to some kind of a divide in the Congress over the issue, Singh today issued a clarification saying he gave his opinion on the issue only "in his personal capacity".

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari sought to downplay the controversy saying the matter should end now when Amrinder Singh has clarified that these were his personal views made in his personal capacity.

Tewari told reporters that Amarinder Singh "is a former officer of the army who has his views on strategic and military affairs and after he has clarified that he has written the letter in his personal capacity, we should leave it at that."

Tewari had yesterday expressed concern over the age controversy.

He had said, "What is happening is definitely a matter of concern. But I would not like to go into it. Those who are charged with the responsibility or are dealing with the issue should arrive at some kind of appropriate solution."

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