Why 3rd senior most officer Lt Gen Bipin Rawat is being appointed as new Army Chief? Congress questions

New Delhi: The Congress has questioned Lt.Gen. Bipin Rawat's appointment as the new Army Chief. "Why has seniority not been respected in appointment of Army Chief? Why have Lt. Gen. Pravin Bakshi and Lt Gen Mohamed Ali Hariz been superseded, Mr PM (Narendra Modi)?" Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari posted on his Twitter account on Saturday. "Why has third senior most officer Lt Gen Bipin Rawat with due respects to his professionalism superseded other two in a herarichal force?" he asked. Tewari further corrected himself saying: "Correction... Gen Rawat is not third but fourth senior most. Even Lt Gen BS Negi Army commander Central Command is senior to him? Why Mr PM?" "And I only hope and pray it is untrue that this supersession in the Army is not a precursor to suppressions in other institutions Like SC?" Tewari asked. Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat would be the new Army Chief and Air Marshal B.S. Dhanoa the new chief of Indian Air Force, the Defence Ministry announced on Saturday. Lt Gen. Rawat and Air Marshal Dhanoa, presently the Vice Chiefs of their respective services, will take over on December 31, when incumbents Gen. Dalbir Singh and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha demit office on retirement from service. Bipin Rawat will take over as 26th Chief of Army Staff. Rawat is son of Lt. Gen. L S Rawat and belongs to the famous 5th Battalion of 11th Gorkha Rifles. He had joined the Battalion in January 1979 at Mizoram. Rawat also commanded a brigade in counter-insurgency area and another one in United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, in Central Africa. Born in Pauri Garhwal, Uttrakhand, he has authored numerous articles on ‘National Security’ and ‘Leadership’. Rawat has also completed his research on military media strategic studies. He was awarded Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph. d) from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut in 2011.