Controversy over inclusion of BJP leaders in BHU Executive Council, Congress raises questions

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee state president Ajay Rai has raised questions while opposing the inclusion of BJP MP from Chandauli, Mahendra Nath Pandey, and Varanasi Mayor Ashok Tiwari in the Executive Council of Banaras Hindu University and said the BHU will not be allowed to become ”a hub of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)”.

However, BJP has retaliated to Ajay Rai’s statement and accused them of indulging in petty politics.

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Rai said here on Thursday that instead of selecting academicians, the university has appointed politicians and RSS-backed people. This move is akin to ruining a world-renowned university and turning it into an RSS office, he alleged.

He further said, “The politicisation of the Executive Council is unfortunate, and we demand an immediate end to this and that qualified persons be made members of the council.”

Describing the influence of the RSS in this council as reprehensible, Rai said: “We had raised this issue last year and suggested that the council should include academicians, vice-chancellors, scientists, and important personalities of the education sector who have been awarded prestigious awards like Padma Shri or Padma Bhushan.”

Mr Rai alleged that the condition of BHU has deteriorated over time. ”When there was a vice-chancellor in BHU, there was no executive council, and now, when there is an executive council, there is no vice-chancellor. The situation is so dire that BHU has become a victim of corruption instead of being a centre of education, where anarchy and corruption prevail everywhere. Justice and morality are being strangled in a prestigious institution like BHU”.

Mr Rai also wrote on his social media account, “In an international university like BHU, now there is no executive council, where there is anarchy and corruption everywhere. Justice and morality are being strangled. Not academicians, but RSS leaders are being appointed. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Dilip Patel, Ashok Tiwari—which pillars of education and research are these? There are thousands of qualified professors, scientists, and Padma awardees in the country. But RSS only wants to oblige its leaders. We will not let BHU become a hub of RSS!”

The UP Congress president hails from Varanasi and had contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, BJP state spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi targeted Congress, saying ” The BHU has always had a glorious tradition. BJP has always been at the forefront in taking this glorious tradition of BHU forward. BJP leader Mahendra Nath Pandey ji being taken into the working council has only added to its glorious history because he has also studied there.”

Tripathi said that Congress should not do petty politics on this issue. Congress forgets its time when it appointed all kinds of people to universities.