BHU violence: PM Modi, Amit Shah speak to Yogi Adityanath, Congress says sack V-C

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Express File Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have taken up the issue of violence in BHU with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, according to sources. Both leaders have expressed their concern over the incident — which many BJP leaders feel will damage the party’s image among the youth — to Adityanath at the BJP national executive meeting held in the national capital on Monday, sources said. Shah is said to have had a discussion with Adityanath on the sidelines of the national executive.

The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP government in UP over the violence against students on the campus and called for a judicial probe by a sitting high court judge. Party spokesperson Manish Tewari urged President Ram Nath Kovind, who is the Visitor to BHU, to sack the V-C. He questioned Prime Minister Modi’s silence over what he called is a “preposterous and shocking” incident.

While briefing the media on the political resolution passed at the extended national executive, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said the BJP feels the incident is “regrettable and a matter of concern”. He said: “Both PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah have spoken to CM Yogi Adityanath on the issue…. The state government will take appropriate action. The issue will be resolved the way it should be.”

Gadkari said the state police will hold an inquiry and one incident does not mean that women get beaten up in all states with where the BJP is in power. “We respect women and want them to have equal opportunities,” he said, adding that women should get rights to enter all temples, too.

The minister said: “Our party and government are committed to women’s empowerment. The design of our welfare programmes such as Ujjwala Yojana that free women from firewood-run kitchens and its attendant hardships (and) our emphasis on education for women through ‘Beti Padhao, Beti Badhao’ prove that empowerment of women is central to us. This is a regrettable incident and cannot be condemned enough as far we are concerned.”