Check Tribal Hostels in Congress-Ruled States First: BJP to Rahul Gandhi
It also claimed that some tribal schools in Maharashtra, against which students have been protesting, are run by Congress leaders and accused Gandhi of shielding them
Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at Rahul Gandhi after he wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about concerns over tribal students in Maharashtra, saying he should first examine tribal welfare departments and hostels in Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka.
The ruling party accused Gandhi of following a pattern of "doing wrong first, then creating noise when action is taken", and said the Maharashtra government was capable of protecting tribal communities and students.
It also claimed that some tribal schools in Maharashtra, against which students have been protesting, are run by Congress leaders and accused Gandhi of shielding them.
Gandhi on Monday urged CM Fadnavis to look into the problems of tribal students in Maharashtra who have been on a hunger strike for the last 10 days against an age limit and alleged "humiliating rules" in state-run hostels.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, in a letter to Fadnavis, asked him to meet the protesting tribal students personally and resolve their problems at the earliest, including relaxing harsh conditions like enforcing the age limit of 30 years for staying in government hostels.
Hitting back, the Maharashtra BJP, in a post on X late Monday night, said Gandhi should first look at the functioning of tribal welfare departments and hostels in Telangana and Karnataka, where his party is in power, and accused him of trying to protect Congress leaders associated with tribal schools in Maharashtra.
"Rahul Gandhi, we don't expect fair or well-researched views from you, but here are some facts the public should know," it said.
The tribal schools in Maharashtra against which students are protesting are run by Congress leaders, the BJP alleged.
"A few days ago, three young girls died at a school whose director, Marotrao Kowase, is a former Congress MP. His son, Vishwajeet Kowase, is the Gadchiroli District Congress Committee president and the school's secretary," it claimed.
The party also referred to an inspection at an ashram school (residential school) in Yavatmal, where girls' bathrooms allegedly had no doors. The school is run by Vasant Purke, a former minister and Congress leader, the BJP claimed.
"When Congress was in power, it wrongly took control of these schools and misused them," the BJP alleged, accusing the Opposition party leaders of exploiting tribal communities.
Attempts to prevent action against these leaders would not work, the ruling party asserted.
Earlier, Gandhi, in a post on X, said, "During the 'Chhatron ki Goonj' event in Pune, female students shared that hostels enforce an unnecessary age limit of 30 years, humiliating rules, unsafe facilities, and inhuman provisions such as pregnancy checks for women."
"These students, coming from remote villages and towns, are not asking for charity -- they are demanding their rightful entitlements. It is expected that you (Fadnavis) will meet them personally and immediately resolve their issues," Gandhi said while sharing a memorandum from students as well as his letter in his post.