Lt General Dalbir Suhag designated Army Vice Chief

The decision was revoked by Gen Bikram Singh soon after he took over as the Army chief, paving the way for Suhag's elevation.

If the government sticks to seniority criteria, which it has for long, Suhag will become the next Army chief.  

Many believed the whole controversy was an outcome of factional feud within the Army as V K Singh was not keen on Bikram Singh and Suhag succeeding him in that order and wanted to disrupt the chain of succession.

He has, however, denied the allegation and instead blamed his predecessor Gen (retd) Deepak Kapoor of fixing his date of birth inaccurately so that his favourites could take over.

In other decisions, Army has designated Lt Gen M M S Rai as the next chief of Eastern Command and Lt Gen Arun Kumar Sahni as the next head of South-Western Command