At the centre of a row over Dalit research scholar Rohith Venmula's suicide, central minister Bandaru Dattareya on Wednesday clarified that he did not put pressure on University of Hyderabad to suspend any student.
He said he only forwarded two representations he received from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to the union ministry of human resources development.
The minister of state of labour and employment said he received a representation from the ABVP on August 10, 2015 and forwarded it to the HRD ministry with a covering letter hoping that the situation in the campus will change for better.
Dattatreya, who is a member of the Lok Sabha from Secunderabad, said he received another representation on August 29 and forwarded it to the HRD ministry.
"I have in no manner influenced any decisions made by the University of Hyderabad in this case directly or indirectly by simply forwarding these two representations to a concerned ministry. My role was only limited to forwarding these two representations. I would have happily forwarded representations of any other student body if they were to have approached me," he said in a statement.
Dattatreya extended his heartfelt condolences to Rohith's family.
"Since my entry into politics in the 80's, I have always been a leader connected to the downtrodden and all sections of the society on a daily basis, whether or not in any position of power. Taking representations from common people, constituents and forwarding them to concerned ministries is what I consider my earnest responsibility by being an elected representative," he added.