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Prashant Kishor's party fields ex-vice chief of army staff, SK Singh, for Tarari bypoll
Prashant Kishor asserted that the candidature of Lt. Gen. SK Singh was a matter of pride for Tarari which had become "synonymous with sand-mining mafia".
Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party on Wednesday named former Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Shri Krishna Singh, as its candidate for the upcoming bypoll in the Tarari assembly seat in Bihar.
Addressing a press conference, Kishor said the candidature of Lt. Gen. Singh, the only vice chief of army staff from Bihar since the late S.K. Sinha, was a matter of pride for Tarari which had become "synonymous with illegal sand-mining and other mafia".
The bypoll for Tarari has been necessitated by the election of CPI(ML) leader Sudama Prasad to the Lok Sabha, leaving the seat vacant.
Lt. Gen. Singh, who retired in 2013, addressed the press conference, explaining his reasons for entering politics and contesting the Tarari seat. A native of the constituency, Singh said his deep emotional connection with the area had compelled him to return.
"My children are settled abroad, and my wife is no more. I am giving up a comfortable life because of my love for Tarari, the place to which I belong. The respect I get there for having served in the army is something I never saw in Delhi or Noida," he said.
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Singh also expressed concerns about the Agniveer scheme, a military recruitment initiative introduced by the central government, which faced protests when it was launched.
The former vice chief said he was "not happy" with the scheme’s structure, particularly its four-year service contract for new recruits. According to Singh, this limited tenure hampers the development of the "regimentation" essential to a soldier’s lifelong devotion to their regiment and nation.
"We should learn from our experience in Galwan, where Chinese troops had superior technical knowledge, but our forces outperformed them in terms of spirit (jazba)," Singh said, referring to the 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Galwan Valley.
Singh, however, clarified that he would not discourage young people from considering a career in the military. "A jawan learns enough skills in four years to build a life for oneself. Also, policies do change, and in the future, the government may amend the scheme on the lines of the Short Service Commission," he said.
Who is Shri Krishna Singh?
Former Lt Gen Shri Krishna Singh headed the Jaipur-based South Western Command before taking over as the vice chief in November 2011. He was commissioned in December 1972 in the 8 Gorkha Rifles, a regiment to which the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw belonged, and has participated in a number of operations, including the IPKF deployment Operation Rakshak in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
He was the commander of an infantry division on the Line of Control with Pakistan and of a Corps in a high-altitude area of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, he has commanded a brigade in the Siachen Glacier. He was also the colonel commandant of the Gorkha Rifles.
Jan Suraaj Party
The Jan Suraaj Party, launched by Kishor earlier this month, has been positioned as a new political alternative in Bihar, aiming to address chronic issues like underdevelopment, lack of quality education, and unemployment. Kishor, known for his successful political consultancy work in the past, has turned his attention to building a grassroots movement in Bihar through his "Jan Suraaj" campaign.
