Congress using students as "proxy" in battle it cannot win: BJP

NEW DELHI: Apparently accusing Congress of "using" Kanhaiya Kumar, the BJP today termed the JNU student leader's visit to Hyderabad over Rohith Vemula's suicide as a "conspiracy" to deflect public attention from UPA government's policies which were "responsible" for his death.

BJP accused Congress of joining hands with those accused of anti-national acts, a reference to Kanhaiya, and asked it to not make universities a place for its politics.

"It is the policies of Congress government which led to so many suicides in Hyderabad Central University, including that of Vemula. Our government has taken measures to ensure that corrective action is taken. Now Congress is trying to deflect attention from its failure by allying with a person accused of anti-national acts," party National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Nine students before Vemula had also ended their lives at the university, he said.

The Modi government is working to ensure that no student suffers discrimination at unversities, he said.

Accusing Congress of using "proxies" to fight political battles "it cannot win directly", Sharma alleged it earlier used NGOs and activists like Teesta Sitalvad and now the students.

When Congress was in power, it was anti-poor and anti-students and it remains so even in opposition, he alleged.

JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya had held an hour-long meeting with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi yesterday.

While Kanhaiya did not interact with the media after the meeting, NSUI Chief Roji M John described it as a courtesy call to thank Gandhi for his support during the ongoing row at the university.

In Hyderabad, Kanhaiya today alleged the government flared up the issue of JNU to divert people's attention from Vemula's suicide and subsequent developments.