Page 343 - Leadership in the Indian Army

be taking over from him in a few months, all other Principal Staff Officers
should work through him, so that he was kept fully in the picture. During
the next five months, Sinha and Krishna Rao worked closely together, and

everyone took it for granted that Sinha would step into Rao’s shoes when he
retired.
On 29 May 1983, Krishna Rao informed Sinha that the government had
decided to appoint Arun Vaidya, who was GOC-in-C Eastern Command, as
the next Army Chief. Sinha was taken aback, and told Krishna Rao that he
had decided to put in his papers. Rao tried to dissuade him, but Sinha had
made up his mind. He returned to his office, and after dictating a letter of

congratulations to Vaidya, wrote out his application for premature
retirement and handed it over to the Military Secretary on the same day.
While Vaidya’s appointment as Army Chief was announced on the radio in
the afternoon, the story appeared in the newspapers the following morning.
It made the front page in most newspapers, along with the news that Sinha
had resigned.

Though Parliament was not in session, some MPs buttonholed R.
Venkataraman, the Defence Minister, in the Central Hall, and questioned
him on the reasons for Sinha’s supersession. Later that day, P.K. Kaul, the
Defence Secretary, sent Ram Mohan Rao, the Director of Public Relations,
as an emissary to Sinha, advising him to withdraw his resignation. Kaul
also indicated that the government was ready to make an amicable
settlement with him. Sinha refused, and told the emissary that he was not

interested in a settlement, which probably meant a gubernatorial or a
diplomatic appointment. Shortly afterwards, Sinha was requested by Ram
Mohan Rao to meet some press correspondents, who wanted to see him.
Sinha initially refused, but subsequently agreed to meet them.
When questioned by the press, he declined to comment on his
supersession and said that, as a disciplined soldier, he had accepted the

government’s decision. The press asked him if he felt that appointments in
the army were being made based on political considerations, and whether it
was his family’s proximity to Jayaprakash Narain which had been
responsible for his supersession. Sinha refused to be drawn into a
controversy, and requested the press to keep politics away from the army.
Next morning, Sinha’s statement was prominently reported in all
newspapers. His assertion that he had chosen to retire from the army after

accepting the decision of the government to supersede him, and his