With only a fortnight to go for Army chief Bipin Rawat to retire, it is still not clear who is successor will be. General Bipin Rawat retires on December 31, but the next chief of Army staff is yet to be designated.
“This is unprecedented... that the Indian Army chief is less than a fortnight away from retirement but his successor is yet to be designated,” said a senior Army officer, on conditions of anonymity.
Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen M.M. Naravane is the frontrunner, along with Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command. Both Naravane and Singh belong to the 1980 batch of the Indian Military Academy, with the former a few months senior to Singh. While Singh is known as an operation expert—he was Director General of Military Operations when the surgical strikes across the LoC was conducted—Naravane is an expert on China and Myanmar, and the man behind the Army’s downsize programme.
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Experts believe that since Lt Gen Naravane is the natural successor, no official declaration has been made yet. But some say that the Union government is yet to make up its mind. Though the cabinet committee on appointment of the Army chief has already taken up the mater to find Rawat's successor, they are yet to come to any conclusion, which has surprised the rank and file of the Army.
If Lt Gen Singh is made the Army chief, then Lt Gen Naravane—Singh's senior—cannot continue to serve as the vice chief of army staff—a junior position. So, he would have to be shifted out to one of the commands, chances of which are low, since the unprecedented shifting of top officers would not bode well for the Army. Also, if the Union government had Singh in its mind, then Lt Gen Naravane would not have be shifted to the Army headquarters as vice chief of army staff in September this year.
Another issue which might be delaying the announcement is the impending appointment of Gen Rawat as the chief of defence staff after he steps down as the Army chief. Said an Army officer: “No one knows what would be the status of the chief of defence staff. Would he be at par with the national security adviser or deputy to him? We only know that he would coordinate with the Army, Navy and the Air Force. Nothing more has been declared. There has to be clarity regarding the role of the chief of defence staff.”
Gen Rawat was designated as Army chief eight months prior to his taking charge—he was designated on December 17, 2015, and replaced Dalbir Singh Suhag on August 31, 2016. He superseded then Eastern Command Chief Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi but there was no violation of Army protocol as the seven Army commanders have enough power to prevail upon the Army headquarters as far as taking decision is concerned.
