Madhya Pradesh college principal suspended by government for holding Jyotiraditya Scindia's program

Earlier on September 26, the college principal had written to Scindia seeking Rs 7 lakh for the college to fund essential infrastructural requirements for education to 1400 students.
Local Congress MP and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. (PTI File Photo)
Local Congress MP and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. (PTI File Photo)

BHOPAL: The principal of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Government College in Ashok Nagar district Dr BL Ahirwar has been suspended by the Madhya Pradesh government for holding a program graced by the local Congress MP and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

On Tuesday, Scindia had addressed a program in the college campus, where he interacted with the students in presence of the college principal. At the program, Scindia had allegedly raised issues like the Vyapam scam to expose the functioning of the ruling BJP government in the state.

Following which, the higher education department of MP suspended the college principal under the MP Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966 and attached him to a government PG College in Shahdol district, situated over 500 kms away from Ashok Nagar.

The suspension order by the saffron government accused the Congress MP of politicizing the college campus in the name of a National Service Scheme (NSS) program. 

The order mentioned that students were lured with money to appeal them to vote for a particular political party. 

Earlier on September 26, the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Government College principal had written to Scindia seeking Rs 7 lakh for the college to fund essential infrastructural requirements for education to 1400 students.

The episode is being seen a part of the ongoing bitter political feud between the MP higher education minister Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya and the Lok Sabha member from Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Scindia and his erstwhile royal family of Gwalior have always been on the target of Pavaiya, the ex-national convener of Bajrang Dal. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Scindia had defeated BJP candidate Pavaiya by around 1.20 lakh votes.

In response to the suspension ordered to the college principal, Scindia tweeted: “It’s a dictatorial order by an insensitive government, which is totally deplorable.

“Suspending the Dalit principal of the college of the Mungawali Degree College sans any cogent reason and notice has exposed the anti-Dalit mindset of the state government.”

In another tweet, the Lok Sabha member from Guna has questioned “is inviting the local MP to the college in his parliamentary constituency such a big crime that the college principal is suspended.”

“Our leaders in Ashok Nagar district will raise the public issue on all platforms and the party workers in Bhopal will petition the Raj Bhavan on Friday,” said state Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi on Thursday.

The ruling BJP, while maintaining that the government has suspended the principal in accordance with government provisions charged the Congress with politicizing the issue ahead of the Mungawali assembly bypoll, the date for which is likely to be decided by the Election Commission soon.

 “The Congress party says our government is anti-Dalit, but forgets what their own leaders had done a few months back by disrespecting our Dalit MLA Gopilal Jatav in the same Ashok Nagar district,” said BJP state spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal.

In the same Ashok Nagar district during July, the BJP legislator Gopilal Jatav, had inaugurated a trauma centre which was supposed to be inaugurated later by local MP Scindia later. Irked with Jatav’s action, a Congress activist Amit Tanware had demanded that the trauma centre be “purified” with gangajal, before being re-inaugurated by Scindia.

The ruling BJP members had then disrupted the state assembly proceedings demanding apology from Scindia.  
 
Congress protests outside minister’s house in Gwalior
 
On Thursday, Congress activists protested outside the house of MP minister for higher education Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya in Gwalior city. The mob of protestors was irked over the suspension of the principal of the college by the higher education department in Ashok Nagar district. The protestors, tried to enter the house of the minister, but the police used mild force to disperse them.

Around 50 Congress workers were arrested by police and booked under Section 188 of IPC, Gwalior district superintendent of police Dr Ashish said.

Meanwhile, in Bhopal, the state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan alleged that by putting up banners and posters of Congress party, which bore the party symbol and slogans like Abki Baar Scindia Sarkar, the opposition party leader has violated the general election code of conduct in Mungawali area where assembly by-elections are to be held in future.

“We’ll petition the Election Commission of India in the matter soon against Scindia,” said Chouhan, adding that even if dates of bypoll are not announced the program at the college in Mungawali (Ashok Nagar), it amounted to violating general electoral code of conduct.

The ruling party’s state chief, while justifying the suspension of the college principal, said that principal had himself invited Scindia to the program and posed that the program was organized under the National Service Scheme (NSS). The program was not at all organized by the NSS, said Chauhan. 

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