NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, JAN 18
There is no move to shut down the Jawaharlal National University (JNU), which has been the hotbed for several protests, said BJP Spokesman and Uttar Pradesh Minister Siddarth Nath Singh here on Friday.
In reply to a query Singh dismissed the demands by party functionaries and sympathisers to close down the renowned institute.
“The BJP government is committed to maintaining the ethos of the institute and it will not be shut down,” said the minister.
“It is a premier institution and its ethos needs to be nurtured. I am sure the government is committed to maintaining that,” said Singh.
The minister was here as part of BJP’s nationwide Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) campaign.
On BJP party demanding the closure of JNU following the recent violence on the institute’s premises, Singh said, “Many have their individual views, but no senior BJP party leader has spoken like that.” He heaped praise on the institute, saying it has given several stalwarts to the country. Protesters are welcome in a democracy. But under the pretext of protests, the opposition parties are spreading falsehood about CAA and creating fear among the minorities, said Singh. “The protests turned violent and they were pre-planned,” he said, urging the DMK chief M K Stalin and other opposition leaders to refrain from spreading falsehoods about CAA.
“No paperwork is done on NRC,” he said and criticised former Union minister P Chidambaram for taking a U-turn on CAA and NRC. Singh said it was Chidambaram, who advocated CAA and NRC.
Responding to a question on whether the BJP government would give equal importance to unemployment and buoying a slowing economy as much as it did to its pro-CAA campaign, Singh said the Narendra Modi government was “dynamic” and would always adjust to the requirement of the economy.
Admitting that there was an economic slowdown, he said the Prime Minister has been talking to industry representatives and taking several measures.
State unit will get new president within a week
Singh said the party’s state president for Tamil Nadu would be announced in a week. The state unit has been headless after Tamilisai Soundararajan was appointed Telangana governor. She was BJP state president until August 2019. On the appointment of the state president, Singh said the TN unit will get a president soon. The party’s central parliamentary committee would meet to pick the new leader and an announcement would be made soon, he added.
