Union minister of state, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Babul Supriyo has been gheraoed at Jadavpur University when he went there to join a programme organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday afternoon.
The students shouted slogans and prevented him from joining the programme. Supriyo got off from his vehicle and got into a heated argument with the students. The minister alleged that he was assaulted by students and that they pulled his hair and shirt.
With a union minister stuck there for hours and allegedly assaulted, Governor Jagdeep Dhankar decided to himself to go Jadavpur University. He spoke with chief secretary Malay De over phone before deciding to go to the spot himself. It was learnt that he had also spoken with chief minister Mamata Banerjee who is now in New Delhi. When he attempted to enter the premises, the students’ demonstration prevented the Governor’s vehicle to move ahead to the area where the union minister was stuck. However, his vehicle eventually went inside to “rescue” Babul Supriyo.
During the time that the gherao started, Vice chancellor Suranjan Das had tried to intervene and said that he would rather resign than call the police. He was soon feeling unwell, was injured and was taken away from the spot to a hospital. The union minister remained stuck at the spot for several hours as the students had gheraoed him and refused to let him go.
Meanwhile, Babul Supriyo said that he could take action against the students of Jadavpur University under various sections, “including sedition”. He said “the way the students are behaving, if something happens, chief minister Mamata Banerjee will have to take responsibility.” He also alleged that the VC “allowed the gherao to happen” and did nothing to stop it. The ABVP staged a sit-in protest outside the university premises.
