Sack Dattatreya: Cong

Congress today demanded immediate sacking of Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya in the wake of an FIR filed against him in a case related to the alleged suicide of a Dalit researcher doing his PHD in the Hyderabad Central Univeristy.
It also wanted that the University Vice Chancellor be removed and HRD Minister Smriti Irani should go there to ensure a probe.
"Now an FIR has been registered against the Union Minister and the letter written by him prima facie amounts to abetment of suicide, Congress demands that Dattatreya resigns with immediate effect, failing which the Prime Minister should sack him", party spokesman R P N Singh told reporters.

He alleged that the suicide by the Dalit research scholar amid circumstances "deliberately orchestrated by Dattatreya, Union HRD Ministry and their cohorts of ABVP" is another manifestation of the "anti-Dalit agenda and mindset" of the government and its "controller"-RSS.
Singh also read out a letter written by the scholar Rohit Vemula to the Vice Chancellor in which he made sarcastic comments on the scholar's attitude on issues concerning Dalit students saying "Donald Trump will be a Liliput" before him.
Alleging that the mindset of BJP was anti-Dalit, he recalled that only recently another Union Minister V K Singh had allegedly compared Dalit children to dogs.

Besides, he said that neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor BJP Chief Amit Shah has till this day "condemned" RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement calling for a review of the reservation for Schdeuled Castes and backward classes.

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Meanwhile, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman P L Punia said a report has been asked from the state office at the earliest.
"We have asked for a report from the state office to intervene. May be due to Pongal festival, we have not received the report yet. Today again, we demanded to provide the report at the earliest," he said.

Punia said he will be leaving for Hyderabad today and will demand action against the culprits.
"I will go to Hyderabad to talk to everyone and will try to find who's at fault. We will demand action against the culprits," he said.
Punia claimed the college authorities enquired about Dalit scholars and rusticated them from college.
"From many days they were sitting on dharna and yesterday one of them committed suicide," he said.
BJP General Secretary P Murlidhar Rao, however, rejected the Congress charges, saying that it was "not correct" to politicise the incident and blame BJP for it.
"Linking Dalit aspect to Hyderabad student's death is objectionable, an orchestrated campaign to malign BJP," he claimed.

Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao said that it was "unfortunate" that a student committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad and dragging BJP ministers into a student's personal issue is "low level of political opportunism".
"We don't see any connection between the suicide and suspension in this case. It is clearly evident from his suicide note. Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani have nothing to do with this case. Dragging them into a personal issue of a student is purely low level political opportunism," he said.