Lt Gen Suhag to be next army chief

After getting the Election Commission's nod despite BJP's charges of impropriety, the government is now all set to name Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army chief after General Bikram Singh, who retires on July 31.
Though a new government is likely to come into office after the Lok Sabha results on May 16, the UPA government's stand is that it went by the long-standing convention of announcing a new service chief "at least two months in advance" while adhering to the seniority principle in the armed forces.
The Election Commission gave the green signal for announcement of the next Army chief's name to the defence ministry yesterday, following which the file was sent to the appointments committee of the cabinet for the final nod.
The BJP had earlier complained to the Election Commission that the UPA regime was showing undue haste in declaring the new Army chief before it demitted office in mid-May.