Smriti Irani shunted out of HRD to divert Rohith Vemula issue: Kanhaiya Kumar

New Delhi: JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been severely critical of Union Minister Smriti Irani ever since the sedition row broke out, on Wednesday claimed that she has been shunted out of HRD to divert public attention from Rohith Vemula issue.

Kanhaiya, who is out on bail in a sedition case, has been leading a movement demanding justice for Rohith Vemula, a Hyderabad university scholar who was found hanging in his room after he along with five others were suspended.

“There has been an outrage in the Dalit community and among students against Irani after Rohith Vemula was forced to commit suicide. The move to send her to Textile ministry from HRD has been made only to divert public attention from Vemula issue,” he said. “If you remove a minister from one ministry and send her to another one, it is not a punishment..it is just an arrangement which has been made keeping in view the upcoming elections," he added.