BJP accuses Congress of prolonging tribal students’ hunger strike

Mumbai: As the hunger strike by tribal students in Maharashtra entered its 16th day on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress of inciting the students to continue their fast to "resurrect the career of Rahul Gandhi". The BJP said the government had accepted most of the demands of the tribal students, but alleged that they were being encouraged to continue their protest with an eye on a proposed visit by Gandhi to Maharashtra.

"The government has held several rounds of meetings with the tribal students and we have accepted most of their demands and are keen to resolve the issues faced by the tribal students. Unfortunately, some Congress leaders are keen to see that the strike continues. They want the strike to continue until Rahul Gandhi's upcoming Maharashtra visit," said Navnath Ban, BJP spokesperson.

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Ban was referring to Gandhi's probable visit to Nashik, where the Congress is holding a 10-day training camp for its district and city unit chiefs. Gandhi may address the session on September 2.

"The Congress wants to revive Rahul Gandhi's career, they want to relaunch him, again, so with an eye on that they are planning to get (tribal) students who are in no way connected to politics to participate in a march. This is an unfortunate attempt to shoot from the students shoulders by the Congress to target the BJP government," said Ban.

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The fast by tribal students in Pune did not get much traction until one of the agitating students narrated their demands to Gandhi during his visit to Pune. The Congress leader immediately wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the issue.