He named Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, to succeed her, but he soon fell out of favour with the new prime minister. He further inflamed the government by refus… - Zail Singh

Had he as supreme commander resigned at that time, there would have been chaos and Sikhs would have suffered immensely. It was because of his decision that Sikhs could become army heads and PM now.

The chapter on this tragic episode [Operation Blue Star] is highly moving, reflecting the agony of a patriotic Sikh. No less a person than the President of India and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, he was given "not even an inkling beforehand.

He overwhelmingly won election to the largely ceremonial office. There was much speculation, however, that Gandhi had selected him in order to mollify Sikh extremists in Punjab, who had since mid-1982 become increasingly militant in that state.