Controversial General Singh a liability for Modi

                        General Singh a liability for Narendera Modi

                                                 SP Sharma

The controversial General VK Singh is bound to prove a liability for the prime ministerial candidate of BJP Narendera Modi with whom he has recently shared the dais in public functions.

Singh, who was habitual of giving controversial statement even when he was heading the Indian military, has now stirred a serious debate by accusing of several ministers of Jammu and Kashmir of receiving secret funds from the army. The controversy has refused to die although Singh has later on tried to change his statement.

The "dictatorial" attitude of Singh would certainly affect Modi's image incase he did not immediately distance himself from the power hungry retired army chief.

The lust for power was displayed by Singh when he initially shared the dais with Anna Hazare and thereafter with Arvind Kejriwal before finally landing in the lap of Modi.

A section of political observers claim that Modi himself possesses traits of a dictator and does not relish his opposition. The fate of the BJP leaders not toeing his line in Gujarat was a glaring example of his behavior.

Singh's statement has virtually united leaders of all political parties who cutting across the party lines were up in arms against him. The coming session of the state assembly is expected to be dominated by this episode.

The ruling National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and several Congress and PDP leaders have criticized the former army chief's statement. They have demanded that Singh should disclose the names of those who were paid the secret fund.

It is worth mentioning that the army is spending about Rs.40 crores annually in J&K on its "Sadbhavana" project under which school children from the far flung Muslim dominated areas, Muslim religious leaders and senior citizens are taken out on conducted tours to various parts of the country with the aim to give them an exposure of the development in the country.

Spending of the secret fund that flowed into J&K through various security and intelligence agencies during the past 23 years of terrorism is a matter of investigation. The centre reportedly provided hundreds of crore rupees as secret fund to these agencies to counter the Pakistan backed terrorism.

Observers feel that any high level enquiry on the matter might prove futile as the secret fund is generally unaccountable and identity of the beneficiaries is maintained as a secret. However, Singh's statement has provided ample ammunition to the politicians to indulge in mud-slinging during the coming assembly elections.