Ex-army chief to advise Pranab

Former army chief and Rajya Sabha member General Shankar Roychowdhury has been appointed adviser to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Congress sources told rediff.com on Monday.

The appointment is significant in view of Mukherjee's recent assertion that certain defence deals closed during the National Democratic Alliance rule would be probed.

After the Tehelka scam broke out, Gen Roychowdhury, as Rajya Sabha member, observed in a well-circulated article: "These vermin have to be stamped upon, hard."

Referring to the Tehelka tapes, he said, "I feel saddened because I have this feeling that whereas the services, in this case the army, will do whatever is required to be done and put their house in order, R K Guptas, T K Jains, Jaya Jaitleys and Bangaru Laxmans will get away with it, as usual."

Mukherjee is on extremely cordial terms with the general thanks to the latter's criticism of the NDA government, the sources said.

As the general is an expert in defence purchases and related matters, he will be an asset to the Congress-led government in probing deals.

Both Mukherjee and Gen Roychowdhury were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal on July 18, 1999.