Ahmedabad/New Delhi: A Major General on Monday courted controversy by saying that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has all qualities of a "successful" military commander, prompting a damage-control attempt by the Army which said his comments may have been "misrepresented".
"Chief Minister Modi has all the qualities of a successful Army commander. His programmes are aimed at development of both the state and the nation," General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major General IS Singha of the 'Golden Katar Division' said in Ahmedabad at a function where Modi was present.
Singha was speaking at the inauguration of three-day 'Know Your Army' exhibition organised by the Golden Katar Division of the Army.
Showering praise on Modi and his government for developmental work in the state, Singha said, "Like in the Army, he (Modi) keeps deadline for completion of work, and ensures that target is achieved by the set time."
Soon after media reported his comments, Army Headquarters contacted the officer and wanted to know what he had said and in what context.
Army spokesman in New Delhi later said that Singha had possibly been "misrepresented as he had spoken in Hindi".
Earlier, the spokesman had said, "If the officer has said so, it is in his personal capacity and is inappropriate. We have sought his comments on the issue."
During the function, Singha also sought land for ex-servicemen housing scheme.
"I would like to request the Chief Minister to provide land to the Army for setting up housing welfare societies for the ex-servicemen in Ahmedabad. Such schemes are available in all other states," he said.
In his address, Modi said security forces needed to be alert and exercise more vigil in Gujarat as the state shared boundaries with "hostile" Pakistan.
"Gujarat is a border state. It is sharing border, both land and sea, with Pakistan. And at a time like this, when the neighbouring country has become hostile, there is much more need for the security forces to be alert," Modi said.
Modi further said that be it personnel of Border Security Force (BSF), Army, Air force, Navy or Coast Guard, there should be coordination between them.
"There has to be coordination and information sharing between the security agencies for securing the nation," the Chief Minister said.
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