Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag named new Army chief

The government on Tuesday cleared the appointment of Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army chief after General Bikram Singh retires on July 31, putting at rest the succession worries in the1.18-million strong force. 

This last major appointment of the UPA-II regime, just before the Lok Sabha election results are declared on May 16, was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) chaired by PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday evening. 

The defence ministry had brushed aside BJP’s charges of impropriety to recommend to the ACC that Lt-Gen Suhag’s name be cleared to take over as the 26th Army chief barely hours after receiving the Election Commission’s green signal on Monday, as reported by TOI earlier.