General Dalbir Singh Suhag assumes charge as new Chief of Indian Army

July 31, 2014

General Dalbir Singh Suhag (59) took charge as the new Chief of the Army Staff of 1.3-million strong Indian Army. He succeeded out going General Bikram Singh whose tenure ended.
The decision to appoint Gen. Suhag, who was the army vice chief, as the next chief was taken by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government during the April-May Lok Sabha polls.
The move was objected by the BJP at that time. However, after the party came to power, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, made it clear that there “shall be no controversy” over Gen. Suhag’s appointment. Gen. Suhag’s tenure as Chief of Army Staff will be of 30 months.
General Dalbir Singh Suhag:

Belongs to a family of soldiers from a village in Jhajjar, Haryana.
He served as a Company Commander during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, led the 53 Infantry Brigade that was involved in counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley, and commanded the 8 Mountain Division in Jammu and Kashmir.
Second officer from the Gorkha Rifles to rise to the position of army chief after the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

Controversies surrounding him:

In 2012, the then outgoing army chief Gen. V.K. Singh had put him under a Discipline and Vigilance ban for a failed intelligence operation at Jorhat in Assam.
After General Bikram Singh took over as the army chief the ban was revoked that paved the way for Gen. Suhag’s elevation as the Eastern Army Commander in June 2012.

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