HCU suicide: Cong shedding crocodile tears over suicide of Dalit, says BJP

New Delhi: BJP on Saturday accused Congress of shedding "crocodile tears" over suicide of a Dalit scholar and attacked its Vice President Rahul Gandhi for using students as a "political tool" after he joined them at the Hyderabad Central University for a day-long fast over the issue.

Read: HCU suicide: Congress accuses BJP of inaction

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said nine cases of Dalit student suicides had taken place in the campus during the UPA rule but Rahul never bothered to go there as he asked opposition parties to wait for the report of the judicial commission probe ordered by the Centre into the suicide.

Read: Rahul Gandhi joins HCU protesters on hunger strike for Rohith Vemula

"Congress is shedding crocodile tears simply to gain political mileage. Congress and communist parties are trying to make this a political issue and making a beeline to the university, forgetting that 9 such incidents happened during the UPA rule. This is part of their anti-Modi campaign across the country," he told reporters.

BJP said the Congress vice president's protests reflected the opposition party's "frustration" as its leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and most chief ministers were facing serious corruption charges.

Read: HCU suicide: ABVP calls for shut down of colleges in Telangana

"At a place where students go for study, Rahul Gandhi is trying to vitiate its atmosphere. It shows how much frustrated Congress is that it is doing politics over a student's death. Such a divisive politics is poisonous and BJP condemns it," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

He charged that both Rahul Gandhi and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi were doing politics over the death of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar who had ended his life on the campus.

Read: Classic politics of vulturisation: BJP on Rahul Gandhi's visit to HCU

Congress MP Hanumantha Rao had also written to the HRD Ministry over suicides by many university students coming from deprived background and the ministry had sent six reminders to the authorities in this regard but Congress had conveniently forgotten it, Sharma said.

"His protests are nothing but part of Congress conspiracy to defame the Modi government on one pretext or another. UPA was a failure while the BJP government has been successful on all fronts. Congress is unable to stomach it. Now it has made the university a political theatre for its selfish motives," he said.

Lashing out at Rahul Gandhi, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said his fast was a classic case of trying to score "political brownie points" and charged that his characteristic way of functioning was to shun responsibility and gatecrash into others' protests.

"Rahul and responsibility, these two Rs never go together. Today he has proved the same. We are all very sad and disturbed about Rohith Vemula's suicide. But the way Rahul Gandhi has shown insensitivity is the reason why I say he and responsibility cannot travel together," he told a press conference.

The Congress leader should not act as a judge as the HRD ministry had already ordered a judicial inquiry and the matter was also before a court, he said.

"Rather than politicising it, he should have shown restraint and sensitivity," he said, adding that it was not a Dalit vs non-Dalit issue and "passion should not be stoked".

"It is a classic case of trying to buy some political brownie points out of a tragedy. It is itself a tragedy... He has always shunned his responsibilities and gatecrashed into protests of others. He has never taken any issue to a logical conclusion," Patra said.

Accusing the Congress leader of being "selective", he said Gandhi has chosen not to speak about Malda violence and about the Warangal Congress leader accused of killing his daughter-in-law.

In-Charge Vice-Chancellor, M Periasamy said his priority was to restore peace and normalcy on the campus. "Whatever demands of (agitating students)...most of the demands...whatever we (HCU) can accept without any problems, we will accept", he said.

On students demanding a job for a family member of Rohith, he said HCU would try to get assistance from the Ministry of HRD and also from the state government in this regard.

Noting that the Andhra Pradesh government has come forward offering some help in this context, Periasamy said the HCU has some contacts with the pharmaceutical industry and would try to tap opportunities to get a private job for a member of Rohith's family.

Keen to resolve the impasse on the campus, he said representatives of the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, spearheading the stir, are expected to meet him "any time" and he wants to hold talks with them.

Meanwhile, former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma visited the protest site to express solidarity with the agitating students and also shook hands with Rahul Gandhi undertaking a day-long hunger strike with the protestors.