Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav join DMK protest against UGC draft rules

New Delhi: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leadership on Thursday invited many Opposition parties to back its students' wing's protest at Jantar Mantar against the new University Grants Commission (UGC) draft rules. The meeting was timed here with the Parliament session to catch eyeballs and ensure presence of other parties.

Addressing the gathering, leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, whose Congress party is an ally of the DMK-led ruling front in Tamil Nadu, besides allies in INDIA bloc, said the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) was trying to impose its vision of one history and one language.

SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, whose party has been maintaining a working relation with DMK since the days of Mulayam Singh Yadav in both pro- and anti-Congress coalitions, accused the Centre of trying to take away the powers of the state governments.


"I have been saying now for some time that the aim of the RSS is the eradication of all other histories, all other cultures, all other traditions in this country. That is their starting point, and that is what they want to achieve. They attacked the Constitution because they wanted to impose one idea, which is their idea, one history, one tradition and one language on this country," Gandhi said, while accusing the RSS of attacking the Constitution.

Akhilesh Yadav said, "They (Centre) want to take over all the powers of the state governments. They want to make politicians servants of industrialists. We can never support the New Education Policy. I am supporting all the students here."