New Delhi, March 9: With both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress speaking about Indian Air Force’s strike at Balakot in Pakistan on February 26 in public forum, former chief of naval staff Admiral L Ramdas (retired) had written to Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, expressing his ‘concern’ over what he sees as the misuse of it to ‘influence the electorate’.

Expressing his concern and criticising the political misuse of air strike to garner votes by parties, Admiral L Ramdas wrote, as quotes by Hindustan Times, “Recent instances of using the Armed Forces for political gains, especially in the aftermath of both Pulwama (in which 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives) and the strikes in Balakot is against the ethos of the armed forces.” He added that the armed forces have always followed ‘secular’ ethos and are ‘a-political’. 'Pakistan Started Crying at 5am...Yet Doubts Raised by Their Sympathisers': PM Modi on Balakot Air Strike. 

Asking the Election Commission to ensure that armed forces are not used for political gains, the Admiral said, “With elections due a few weeks from now, it is particularly important that there should not be any misuse of these recent events by any political party to send triumphalist or jingoistic messages.”

Awarded Vir Chakra for his role in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Admiral Ramdas was part of the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and led the Indian Navy from 1990 to 1993. In the 1971 operation, Admiral Ramdas ensured that Pakistan could not evacuate over 90,000 soldiers from Bangladesh, which led to their surrender before the Indian Army.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2019 07:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).