V. K. Singh

General Vijay Kumar Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM (born 10 May 1951) is an Indian politician and retired military officer. He was appointed as the Minister of State of External Affairs and Minister of state (independent charge) for North East Region in the National Democratic Alliance government. However during cabinet expansion and resuffling on 10 November 2014, the charge of Development of North Eastern Region ministry was given to Minister of State Jitendra Singh (no relation). V. K. Singh was previously a military officer, serving as the 24th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. Most of his military career was spent in special forces roles, including service in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and U.S. Army Ranger training; he was the first commando to be promoted to the rank of General. He became the first serving Indian military chief to take the Government of India to court. In 2014, after his retirement from the military, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He gained his seat in the Lok Sabha in the 2014 elections, winning the Ghaziabad constituency of Uttar Pradesh by a record 567,000 votes (the second-highest margin of victory after Narendra Modi's). He has written Courage and Conviction: An Autobiography.

Early life and education
V. K. Singh was born in a Rajput family at Bapora village, Bhiwani district, Haryana. His father was a colonel in the Indian Army and grandfather a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). Singh was educated at Birla Public School, Pilani, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

Military career
Singh was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment (Kali Chindi) on 14 June 1970. He commanded the same unit when it was positioned along the Line of Control with Pakistan.

He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College. He was an honours graduate of the United States Army Infantry School, a graduate of the Rangers Course at Fort Benning and the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Singh is experienced in both counter-insurgency and high-altitude operations. He also saw action in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. During his career he has served in various positions:
 * Instructor in the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) headquarters in Bhutan.
 * Instructor at Infantry School twice and Chief Instructor at JLW (Commando Wing), Belgaum.
 * Commanded an Infantry brigade.
 * Military Operations Directorate at the Army Headquarters.
 * Brigadier General Staff of a Corps during Operation Parakram when Indian troops were mobilised on the border in the wake of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.
 * Commanded Ambala-based 2 Corps and Jalandhar-based 11 Corps.
 * Commanded the Army's Eastern Command.

He became the 24th Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010, and was the first commando to achieve that position. Towards the end of his career there was a dispute regarding his date of birth, causing him to become the first serving officer of the Indian Army to take the government to court. As a consequence of an error made when he had enrolled with the National Defence Academy in 1965, official records mis-stated the year in which he was born. He withdrew the writ in February 2012 when, according to The Hindu, the Supreme Court "refused to intervene". The Court noted that there was no dispute regarding his actual date of birth and that the matter being contested was regarding how that had been recorded. It ruled that Singh had on three occasions accepted the misrecorded date.

The BBC noted in 2012 that defence experts considered a drive to modernise the Indian army had suffered from "a lack of planning and acrimony between the military and the defence ministry". This report followed an interview given by Singh in March 2012 that had caused a political row. Singh said that over a year earlier he had reported to A. K. Antony, the defence minister, that he had been offered a bribe of US$2.7 million if the army bought several hundred sub-standard vehicles. Antony issued a rebuttal to the interview, saying that he had requested at the time that Singh provide a written report regarding the incident and that this had never been submitted. Two days after the interview with Singh, correspondence between the general and the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was leaked. This criticised the standard of India's defences and caused a further political row.

Singh retired as Chief of Army Staff on 31 May 2012. He was succeeded by General Bikram Singh.

Politics
Subsequent to his retirement from the military, Singh showed support for the anti-corruption movement. Singh was seen on the stage at Ramdev's fast against the black money and corruption at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, in August 2012. He was reported to have declared that "It is shocking but true that over two lakh farmers have committed suicide since 1995. The problems of farmers will have to take the forefront in this movement as the government has turned a blind eye to their woes." Around that time he also compared the movement, whose principal figurehead was Anna Hazare, to that of Jayaprakash Narayan's Bihar Movement of 1975. He said that "When I evaluate the country's present condition, it is similar to that of 1975. Jayaprakash Narayan had then said Vacate the throne, common people are coming. He felt then that corruption is the root of all problems ... the situation in the country is the same today".

Singh led an agitation with Ramdev on 23 December 2012, at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on the 2012 Delhi gang rape case

Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 1 March 2014. He won the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency seat in the 2014 Indian general election, defeating Raj Babbar of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 567,260 votes.

He currently holds the office of Minister of State (Independent Charge) under the portfolio 'development of North Eastern Region' in the NDA government.

Military awards
V. K. Singh won the following awards during his career:


 * Param Vishisht Seva Medal
 * Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
 * Yudh Seva Medal for his distinguished service during Operation Pawan

During his service as the COAS, V. K. Singh was appointed Honorary Aide-De-Camp to the President of India. He was the Colonel of The Rajput Regiment to which he belonged and also Honorary Colonel of The Brigade of Guards, by virtue of being the Army Chief.

On 11 March 2011, Singh was inducted into the United States Army War College (Class of 2001 graduate) International Fellows Hall of Fame. He is the 33rd International Fellow and the first Indian Armed Forces officer to be inducted.