Congress demands Bandaru Dattatreya's removal from union cabinet

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties have demanded “immediate sacking” of Union labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya following the filing of an FIR over the suicide of Dalit student activist Rohith Vemula in the Hyderabad Central University. They also demanded that the university vice-chancellor and his team be removed and a probe ordered into the episode.

They alleged that the “anti-Dalit politics of BJP-RSS” was responsible for the incident. They also demanded HRD minister Smriti Irani visit the university campus to deal with the situation.

“We demand the immediate sacking of Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya against whom an FIR is registered for abetting the suicide of student leader Vemula. The vicechancellor and his team should be immediately removed for their action of sacking the student,” AICC spokesperson RPN Singh said at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.

The CPM Polit Bureau in a statement said: “The newly-appointed vice-chancellor, allegedly, under pressure from the minister of the Union Cabinet belonging to Hyderabad and the consequent direction by the human resource development ministry, had taken this action of suspension (of students) from the hostels...”