‘Will reflect poorly’: Owaisi attacks Centre over extension of Army chief’s tenure

AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday attacked the Narendra Modi government over the extension of the tenure of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, saying the move in the midst of elections is not desirable.

In a post on social media platform X, Owaisi said the armed forces should be kept out of politics by the ruling party. Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande will continue to serve in the post till June 30, as the government on Sunday extended his tenure by one month, in a rare and unusual move that came amid the Lok Sabha polls.

Gen Pande was to retire from service on May 31.

The Hyderabad MP said, “The extension (of) tenure of the serving army chief #COAS during the election campaign, days before he was to retire, is not desirable. The @narendramodi government was well aware of his date of retirement and should have announced a replacement long ago.”

“Our armed forces should be kept out of politics by the ruling party but over the last decade, we have seen the Modi regime use and misuse our soldiers for its electoral benefit. We have seen this on the China border where our soldiers are unable to patrol to the LAC,” the AIMIM chief said.

He claimed this latest move on General Pande again reflects “poorly” on PM Modi, the defence minister and all those involved in decision making on India’s national security.

“That the extension given to Gen Pande is only for one month means it is a temporary measure, essentially showing the complete lack of governance in this regime. If it is not incompetence, then it has to be something more sinister and conspiratorial,” Owaisi alleged.