Former Vice Army Chief Sarath Chand joins BJP, terms party as first choice for 'Fauji'

Former Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lt. General (Retired) Sarath Chand, who had once criticised the BJP led Central government for cuts in defence budgets, joined BJP on Saturday.

He joined the party in the presence of Union Minister of External Affairs and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj who lauded the former VCOAS for his service to the nation.

Sarath Chand termed the BJP as first choice for the "Faujis".

"I never thought I would join politics. In the current scenario, the country needs strong leadership. I am inspired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I thought to serve the country in whatever way I could," he said.

"No one has done for the military as much as the BJP," he added.

Chand was commissioned into Garhwal Rifles, an infantry unit of the Indian Army in June 1979. He served in the Army for around 38 years in various operational postings.

Chand had also led a company during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. Besides that, he also commanded a company in Kargil sector. He had also been the General-Officer-Commanding in Chief of the Indian Army's Jaipur headquartered South Western Command.

For his distinguished services, he was awarded Param Vishisht Sewa Medal (PVSM) in 2018.

He served as Vice Chief of Army Staff from January 2017 to June 2018. As the Vice Chief of Army Staff, while briefing a parliamentary committee on Defence, he had criticised the Central government for not allotting enough resources for defence modernisation.

He had termed the allocation of defence budgets as a "mild setback" for military modernisation.