Aligarh BJP lodges complaint with EC against Congress’s manifesto

AGRA: The Aligarh unit of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress and accused it of violating the code of conduct by promising to uphold the minority character of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) in its manifesto, even when the matter is sub-judice.

In a letter to the EC, BJP’s media incharge Dr Nishit Sharma accused the Congress party of attempting to create confusion as AMU is not a minority institution. He said the Congress has committed contempt of the court by making such a promise.

He also stated that the Congress has committed a poll code violation and demanded action against the party.

Former media advisor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Jasim Mohammad also accused the Congress for playing politics of appeasement of Muslims. He also wrote to the EC regarding this issue and urged it to take necessary action against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for misguiding the voters with false promises.

Last year, chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and BJP MP from Agra Ram Shankar Katheria had asserted that he would urge the NDA government to stop providing grants to AMU in case AMU fails to provide reservations to SCs, STs and OBCs.

The chairman of UP SC/ST Commission Brijlal also issued notice to AMU regarding this issue. He had then said that AMU is like any other central university set up under a Central Act and run on its funds. They should ideally provide 15 percent reservation to SC and 7.5 percent to ST, as per UGC order of March 23, 2016. Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath too had suggested that AMU and Jamia should offer reservations like other universities.