Gujarat university professors get notice for Cong campaigning

Nine professors of the Central University of Gujarat (CUG) have been issued show cause notices for allegedly campaigning for the Congress during the recently held Gujarat Assembly polls.

CUG Vice Chancellor S A Bari today said a professor, an associate professor and seven assistant professors were asked for an explanation on complaints received by the Union HRD ministry and the state education department.

He said the notices were issued on the basis of a complaint received by the Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat which alleged that the teachers were involved in campaigning for a particular party and its candidates.

"Some of our teachers appear in the photographs that have been enclosed with the complaint as evidence and their names have been written in the letters. We have asked the teachers if the allegations are true or not," said Bari.

The complaint was reportedly filed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students' wing of the RSS, on November 17 last year.

An executive member of the ABVP in CUG, however, denied the filing of any such complaint by the students' body.

"No such complaint was made by the ABVP to any forum, and the letterhead of ABVP on which the complaint has been written might be forged. There was no signature on the letter either. We suspect some kind of conspiracy," the ABVP member said.

"The photographs enclosed as evidence show the teachers attending a teachers' meet organised by the Congress on November 24, attended by Rahul Gandhi. The professors can also be seen at a public meeting addressed by Gandhi at Nikol in Ahmedabad (as part of his election campaign last year)," President of CUG's Teachers' Association, Sony Kunjappan, said.

Kunjappan is among the nine who were issued a notice on April 20.

"We received a notice based on a complaint filed by ABVP, which is now denying having filed any such complaint. The complaint was filed on November 17, saying some of the teachers were campaigning for a particular candidate and political party," he said.

The professors, however, have denied the allegations.

"In our reply yesterday, we have denied the allegation that we campaigned for any political party. The meeting that the photographs refer to was a teachers' meet meant to discuss teachers' issues," said Kunjappan.

He added that the varsity should have first asked the teachers, then set up an inquiry committee and send the notices.