Two days after the death of Bipin Rawat, who was India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Union government has begun its drive of picking his replacement to the top post, which has stirred speculations with several probable names. 63-year-old Rawat has died in a military chopper crash on Wednesday- December 8, in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu.

The chopper, operated by the Indian Air Force, was carrying 14 people on board and 13 people, including Rawat's wife Madhulika Rawat and top officials were killed. Rawat was en route to Defence Service Staff College in Wellington, Nilgiris to deliver a lecture and minutes ahead of the landing, the chopper had lost its control and crashed due to foggy weather. The demise of Bipin Rawat, who was the forthright and doyen of the Indian Armed Forces, had saddened the entire nation.

The mortal remains of Bipin Rawat and 12 others were brought to Delhi from Sulur Air Force Station in Coimbatore through a military aircraft and kept for homage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and several officials had paid tribute to the deceased commanders and the last rites of Bipin Rawat and others will be held in Delhi on Friday - December 10 with full state honours. 

While the government has been preparing to offer a royal send-off for the deceased, it also has begun the process of picking Rawat's successor. It has been expected that the government will be announcing the name soon. According to reports, a list of probable candidates is being worked out and these names will be discussed before the Cabinet Committee on Appointments, headed by the Prime Minister. As the CDS doesn't have a direct line of succession, the government can pick anyone for the post considering the seniority. 

The CDS is a military officer and also a bureaucrat, whose primary task is to provide impartial advice to the political leadership. As per the rules, any officer equivalent to the rank of Army Commander of Flag officers of the armed forces is eligible for the position. It has been reported that after Rawat, current Chief of the Army Staff General MM Naravane is the senior-most among the three service chiefs and currently, Naravane is the frontrunner to replace Rawat as India's next CDS. The army general has four months in the office as he will be retiring in April 2022. 

If Naravane is elevated as CDS, he will be replaced either by Lieutenant Generals CP Mohanty or YK Joshi as the next Chief of the Army. It must be noted that the Union government has set up a tri-service probe into the chopper crash that had resulted in the death of Bipin Rawat and 12 others. Air Marshal Manavendra Singh will be heading the tri-service probe and 13 of the 14 personnel on board had died, Group Captain Varun Singh was the sole survivor of the crash and he has been getting treated in Bangalore.