Few Army veterans deny writing a 'letter' to President Kovind

Former Army chief General SF Rodrigues and former Air Force chief NC Suri have claimed that they did not sign the letter.

However, their names are present in the letter presented to the President.

Another veteran, Former Army Vice Chief Lt General ML Naidu has told media that his consent was not been taken for the letter written to the President.

He said he has not written similar letter as well.

Speaking to media, SF Rodrigues, whose name is on the top of the list in the letter, said: " Don’t know who these people are, but this is a classic manifestation of fake news."

Air Force chief NC Suri also told media that his consent was not taken for writing down the letter.

He said he did not agree with the content of the letter.

The three veterans came ahead with the revelation at a time when news emerged that over 150 Army veterans have written to President Ram Nath Kovind against political leaders for using the Army to make electoral gains in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

In a letter titled as "From a group of veterans to our supreme commander", the veterans have mentioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath's reference to the Army as "Modi ji ki Sena".

"We refer, Sir, to the unusual and completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be "Modi ji ki Sena". This is in addition to media pictures of election platforms and campaigns in which party workers are seen wearing military uniforms, and posters and images with pictures of soldiers and especially of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, displayed" the letter reads.

In some of the last lines of the letter, the veterans wrote, "We therefore appeal to you to ensure that the secular and a-political character of our Armed Forces is preserved. We hereby respectfully urge to take all necessary steps to urgently direct all political parties that they must forthwith resist from using the military, military uniforms and symbols, and any actions by military formations or personnel, for political purposes or to further their political agendas."

A copy of the letter has also been given to the Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India.

During an election rally in Ghaziabad, Yogi Adityanath, the BJP's star campaigner, had said that while Congress used to feed terrorists with biryani (a food item), the Army of Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives bullets to the terrorists.

The Election Commission had advised the BJP strongman to be  'careful' in future.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was once seen delivering his address with a background consisting of pictures of martyrs of Pulwama terror attack, recently urged the first time voters to dedicate their votes to the ones who had carried out an airstrike in Balakot.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) had carried out an airstrike in Balakot as a response to Feb 14 Pulwama attack, which had left at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel martyred.

Few days after the airstrike, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari had triggered a row by wearing an army jacket while holding a rally.

Several opposition parties including the Congress have accused the ruling BJP of politicising the Pulwama terror attack and the IAF's airstrike for electoral gains.