The Congress on Thursday stepped up its demand for the immediate sacking of HRD Minister Smriti Irani and labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya over the issue of alleged suicide of Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad University.
“Irani is lying through her teeth in a bid to protect the ABVP leader. She is misleading the nation by giving false information,” AICC chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said, seeking to dismiss the claims of Irani on the issue.
Irani at a Press conference on Wednesday had said that the ABVP leader, who was attacked in student rivalry earlier, also belonged to the OBC community as was Dattatreya, who had written a letter to her about the attack.
Insisting that the HRD Minister “justified the unfairness” meted out to Rohith Vemula and four other suspended Dalit students, Surjewala said, “She is the custodian of all universities. She committed the unpardonable sin of lying to the nation. She spoke a number of lies to cover up a lie.”
“We demand that Smriti Irani should be sacked for attempting to hide facts along with Bandaru Dattatreya, against whom an FIR has been lodged,” he said. Dattatreya and Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and three others have been named in an FIR lodged with the Cyberabad police over the alleged suicide of 26-year-old PhD scholar Rohith who was found hanging at the Central University’s hostel room on the campus on Sunday.
Alleging the Proctorial Board’s report was changed due to pressure by BJP, Surjewala said, “Just on the basis of ABVP leader’s statement, five dalit PhD scholars were suspended.” He claimed that following pressure from the university authorities and the HRD Ministry, and statements of ABVP leaders, the Board was forced to overturn their decision. Surjewala’s remarks indicated that the main opposition party was stepping up its offensive on the issue.