Page 101 - Leadership in the Indian Army

earlier. If this had happened, would the 1962 conflict still have gone the
way it did?
When Thimayya began his term as Army Chief, he enjoyed a close

rapport with Prime Minister Nehru and was held in high esteem both within
and outside the army. His assignment as Chairman of NNRC had made him
an international figure. He was looking forward to a satisfying tenure at the
top, when he moved into White Gates (Army House), in Delhi. But this was
not to be. Not long after he took over as Army Chief a rift developed
between him and Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon, who was a close
confidant of Nehru. Menon was known for his arrogance and acerbic

tongue, and thought that his intellectual brilliance equipped him with more
than adequate knowledge of military matters. He soon realised that
Thimayya was not as pliant as he had expected him to be. The presence of
Major General B.M. Kaul, the Chief of General Staff, did little to improve
matters. A brilliant officer, Kaul lacked war experience, but was powered
with unbridled ambition. He became a protege of Nehru and Menon, and in

order to achieve his ambition of becoming the Chief, began to poison their
minds against Thimayya as well as Thorat, who was expected to succeed
him.
Matters came to a head on 31 August 1959, when Thimayya resigned.
The Prime Minister called him and, playing on his emotions, persuaded
Thimayya to withdraw his resignation. He also promised to put things right
between him and Menon. But this did not happen. News of Thimayya’s

resignation had somehow leaked to the press, and was given extensive
coverage by all newspapers on 1 September 1959. The issue was also raised
in Parliament, and several members demanded a statement from the
Defence Minister. Since Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the President of
Pakistan, was arriving that day, the Prime Minister had gone to the airport
to receive him and was therefore not present in the House. However, it was

conveyed by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs that the Prime Minister
would himself give a statement the next day.
On 2 September 1959, Nehru gave his statement in Parliament. He
underplayed the importance of the issues raised by Thimayya, calling them
trivial and of no consequence. He added that the difficulty seemed to be
temperamental and went on to say that he had advised General Thimayya to
have a talk with the Defence Minister, which he had done. He defended the

actions of the Defence Minister in the matter of promotions, which