Following the footsteps of former Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh, another decorated Army veteran has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Lieutenant (Lt) General Sarath Chand had retired from the active service on 31 May 2018 as the Vice Chief of Army Staff and joined the BJP on Saturday (6 April 2019), Financial Express has reported.
During the induction ceremony, Lt General Chand was welcomed into the party by the External Affairs Minister and senior leader of the BJP, Sushma Swaraj.
“I never thought that I would join politics, but in the current scenario, I felt that the country needs strong leadership. That is the only reason for me to join politics,” Chand was quoted in the report as saying after joining the BJP.
He added, “In today’s global scenario, the country needs a strong leadership. I was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership that’s why I am joining BJP.”
This comes as a major shot in the arm for the BJP, as just about a fortnight ago, on 24 March 2019, the former Director General of Central reserve Police Force (CRPF), Prakash Mishra had joined the party in Odisha, Swarajya has reported.