Pune, Oct 21 BJP minister Jaykumar Gore has claimed that students were paid Rs 3,000 a day to participate in a recent agitation, alleging that foreign forces were trying to divide the country, as the British had done in the past.
Addressing a rally in Solapur district, where he is the guardian minister, on Tuesday, Gore said the British had created divisions among the erstwhile princely states to consolidate their rule over the country.
“Foreign forces are trying to execute a similar sort of plan in the country. The agitation was going on. An interview was taken of one of the agitating youths. He was told he had been seen there for the last three days. He said he was receiving Rs 3,000 per day and asked ‘why should I sit idle at home?’” Gore claimed.
However, he did not elaborate on whether his comments were directed at the recent protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) or MPSC aspirants in Pune.
The CJP recently held a protest in New Delhi to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls over alleged irregularities.
In Pune, students had agitated for 10 days against the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) over alleged paper leaks, examination cancellations and recruitment delays.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Atul Londhe demanded Gore’s resignation, claiming that the minister’s remarks were insulting to aspirants and their parents. He also asked Gore to issue a public apology.
The Congress senior spokesperson called the BJP-led Mahayuti government in the state anti-student, claiming that around 70,000 posts remained vacant, MPSC examination schedules had been disrupted, and paper leaks had marred exams.
Londhe said lakhs of students from villages and rural areas across Maharashtra were preparing for MPSC examinations and that Gore’s remarks insulted them and their parents.
He also criticised Gore’s alleged “foreign forces” claim, questioning “how such elements could reach Pune despite the BJP being in power at the Centre for the past 13 years”.
The Congress leader accused the BJP of attempting to discredit protests by linking them to external forces, citing similar allegations during farmers’ protests and demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
(PTI News)
