Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar today resulting in two adjournments over the leaking of a confidential letter written by the Army Chief General VK Singh to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the defence preparedness of the country.

While JD-U and SP members demanded the sacking of the army chief immediately for leaking the letter to media, BJP members wanted to know the steps taken by the Government to improve the country’s security.

With the members speaking simultaneously and demanding an explanation on the leaking of the letter, nothing was audible in the house. The continuous din forced the Chair to adjourn the house twice.

General Singh, in his letter dated March 12, observed the army has been suffering due to lack of proper ammunition and there is no preparedness on part of the Defence forces in case of a war. Singh further said in his letter that the country’s defence preparedness has been handicapped because of the government’s indecision.

The Army Chief has also informed the PM that the entire tank fleet doesn’t have the required critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks and the country’s air defence is 97 per cent obsolete. “We also don’t have night fighting capacities and our infantry is crippled with deficiencies of crew served weapons,” he said in his letter.

The BJP demanded a statement from the Prime Minister or Defence Minister immediately on the development.

“As the issue is of very serious nature, it will affect the morale of our armed forces. The government must reveal the follow up action taken on the letter in terms of defence preparedness,” demanded BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu. (J)