New Delhi:
Former Army Chief General VK Singh has no plans to join politics or fight elections against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Speaking to NDTV's Nitin Gokhale, Mr Singh talks about his efforts to unite the large community of ex-servicemen under one umbrella to ensure that their voice is heard and that they get their dues.
Here are the highlights:
- I'm not against Congress, I'm for a better India
- Reports of standing against Sonia Gandhi is someone's ripe imagination
- I decided that for 42 years I have taken from society and now it is time to give back
- I have taken up the cause of ex-servicemen, aim to get them under one umbrella
- Not bothered about accusations, small minds think of small things
- People must realise here is a group of people who are disciplined, well-trained and must be used
- You have a jhuggi-jhopri vote bank, why should an ex-servicemen vote bank scare people?
- Looked at students' causes, the whole education system is warped and needs overhaul
- I'm with Anna because he is genuine; elections are not not on our mind
- We have formed the Jantantra Morcha, and we'll focus on getting true democracy in the country
- Nothing more preposterous than the suggestion that the Army is listening to conversations of politicians and the Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister)
- Misunderstandings are created deliberately by people who have an axe to grind
On the Technical Support Division (TSD):
- TSD was set up after a lot of discussion on the operational requirement. It is in sync with the directives of Raksha Mantri.
- Thinking on this started with my predecessor
- It has nothing to do with technical work, it is about human intelligence
- It was part of military intelligence, not controlled by Army chief
- If they had not tinkered with this organisation, a lot of things happening on our borders wouldn't have happened
- This agency was designed to look across the border
- If they say Rs 8 crore is missing, have they seen the log books? This is totally wrong.
- Traditional values teach us to speak the truth, be upright about it
- If people had followed service norms, we would not have the problems
- People are all hankering for their rehabilitation.
- People who blame for the leak of my letter to PM should get themselves checked
- These cases are all designed to harass. One has to be mentally strong to deal with this.
- The system today requires good people. Not all people in politics are bad.
- 20% of the people twist the system.
- No truth in reports that I am contesting against Sonia Gandhi.
- As part of the Jantantra Yatra I haven't even visited Rae Bareli but I think I should now.