By Sidharth Mishra
The past few weeks have been bad for at least three former chiefs of staff of the armed services – Army, Navy and Air Force. In the case of the first, former chief of Indian Army General VK Singh ended up blaming the media for an embarrassment he caused to the government. In the second case, a former chief of the Indian Navy, Admiral L Ramdas was unceremoniously booted out as the internal Lokpal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Finally, it is only a matter of time before Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi is taken into custody for his alleged role in a defence scam.
While SP Tyagi’s case is related to corruption, both VK Singh and L Ramdas have managed to heap ignominy upon themselves thanks to their political ambitions. General VK Singh’s term as the chief of army staff was riddled with controversy. During Singh’s tumultuous tenure he had a running battle with the previous government and his agenda was not exactly for the good of the soldier. Singh’s personal ambitions and preferences got the better of his demeanour and duties as army chief. This ambition, some would argue, was reflected in the personal vendetta he showed towards his peers and colleagues.
That VK Singh had political ambitions became very clear when he joined the India Against Corruption ‘tamasha’,
