Rahul, Varun among young MPs to witness army exercise
November 8th, 2011 - 10:59 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and his cousin Varun Gandhi from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may be among young MPs to get an opportunity to witness a massive winter war game underway in the Rajasthan desert with the Indian Army drawing up plans for this.
An army officer told reporters here that a proposal to showcase the army’s prowess in desert warfare through nearly 50,000 troops and over 250 battle tanks to young MPs had been sent to the defence ministry and a final call is awaited on this.
Apart from the two Gandhis, Congress’ Naveen Jindal and Meenakshi Natrajan, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Biju Janata Dal’s Kalikesh Singh Deo could be among the list of young MPs to witness the exercise, the officer said.
The army’s Bhopal-based 21 ‘Sudharshan Chakra’ Corps, one of the three strike formations, is holding the exercise that will last till mid-December, as first reported by IANS. The strike corps has its troops and forces spread all the way till southern Rajasthan.
“The idea is to give the young MPs an exposure to the army’s capabilities and strengths, and military matters,” the officer said.
The army already has plans to attract young MPs to join the Territorial Army, a reserve force comprising civilians. Former minister of state for defence from the Congress, K.P. Singh Deo, is a retired Territorial Army brigadier.
The army has in recent times honoured leading cricketers, Olympians and film personalities with honorary ranks in the Territorial Army such as Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra and Mohan Lal.
- Varun Gandhi among MPs at Indian Army exercise - Dec 03, 2011
- India to hold massive war game this winter - Jun 10, 2011
- Indian Army team wins gold at World patrol meet - Nov 07, 2011
- India's massive winter war game begins this week - Oct 02, 2011
- President witnesses war game, urges modernisation - Dec 05, 2011
- Army's summer war game in Punjab ends - Jun 01, 2011
- Pakistan war-gaming to counter India's military plan - Jun 05, 2011
- Army's desert exercise enters crucial phase - Nov 24, 2011
- Indian Army gears up for war game in Rajasthan desert - Apr 24, 2012
- Army chief reviews Southern Army Command's readiness - Sep 11, 2012
- President to witness Indian Army exercise - Nov 28, 2011
- Young Congress MPs protest BJP's delay on Lokpal debate - Aug 26, 2011
- Indian Army to hold summer exercise in Rajasthan desert - Feb 26, 2012
- Kargil martyrs remembered on Vijay Diwas - Jul 26, 2012
- Army chief witnesses exercise in Ladakh - Apr 20, 2011
Tags: abhinav bindra, akhilesh yadav, army officer, battle tanks, bharatiya janata party, desert warfare, dhoni, film personalities, gandhis, indian army, k p singh, mohan lal, rahul gandhi, rajasthan desert, Samajwadi Party, southern rajasthan, sudharshan, territorial army, varun, winter war