BJP MLA urges Centre to not appoint Gen Rawat as CDS

A senior BJP leader and lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's home town of Gorakhpur on Friday slammed outgoing Army chief general Bipin Rawat over the latter's remarks on the CAA protests and urged the centre not to appoint him as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

In a post on his Facebook page, the lawmaker Radha Mohan Das Agarwal said that general Rawat's remarks were violation of the Army Act and was political in nature.

''General Rawat's remarks are deliberate...he should not have made such comments....it is against the laws governing the Army,'' Agarwal, a doctor by profession, said.

''Those, who think that his (Gen Rawat) comments are outpouring of his pain as a patriot, should read the Army Act and think again about someone, who violates the same,'' the lawmaker said.

He said that the Indian Army was praised in the world for being an 'apolitical' institution. ''If it loses this identity, we will also become like Pakistan,'' he added.

Agarwal said that such a person should not be made the CDS.

General Rawat had at an event on Thursday slammed the protests on CAA and said that leaders emerged from crowds but those, who led people to inappropriate directions. His comments have also drawn flak from several quarters, including the opposition leaders.