The West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday held a protest rally from Nabina Cinema to Jadavpur Police Station, against the violence that occurred inside the Jadavpur University campus on March 1 after the visit by State Education Minister Bratya Basu. The rally which began around 12.15 pm was led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.
The Calcutta High Court on Friday had granted permission for the rally after amending the route of the rally. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh had ordered that the rally, with 750 participants, be held from Nabina Cinema on Anwar Shah Road to the Jadavpur police station.
Alleging that the CPM and the Trinamool Congress are responsible for the JU campus scenario, Adhikari said, “Main function of a university is education. CPM and TMC are the same for Jadavpur. Ragging, drugs and anti national activities all this happens here… Everything is a setting here, everything is got up just to give some importance to CPM. All these antisocial gangs will come together before the Assembly polls and chant slogans against Prime Minister Modi, and say no vote to BJP. We will not give up.”
“The sanatanis of Bengal are united after the Maha Kumbh and Saraswati puja incident, but the TMC and CPM are trying to divide the Hindu. TMC is patronising and encouraging CPM in Jadavpur and other areas. Jadavpur is a very prestigious university but there is no education. In 2026, the people of Bengal are ready for change in state,” Adhikari said while speaking to mediapersons.
The senior BJP leader further said that the party will be holding continuous programmes in and around Jadavpur. “We are not just taking up the programme today. On March 16, we will hold a civic convention in Jadavpur. After the completion of the higher secondary, we will work outside the university to create awareness, meanwhile, the ABVP will work inside the university. Already several students from the university have joined ABVP.”
Meanwhile, the interim VC of Jadavpur University Bhaskar Gupta was on Sunday discharged from the hospital. According to hospital sources, Gupta has been advised 15-days rest by the doctors, but he can work from home.
On Saturday, the interim VC asked students and “other stakeholders” to take steps to restore normalcy in the greater interest of the university, particularly in the matters of academic activities, research and administrative work.
“I hereby appeal to my beloved students and other learned stakeholders to take all necessary steps to restore normalcy in the greater interest of the university; particularly in the matter of academic activity; research and administrative activities of the university. Let democracy prevail and all issues be resolved through dialogue,” Gupta had said in his email from the hospital.
The appeal from the VC came a day after the students affiliated to the Left-wing organisations threatened an administrative shutdown on the campus starting Monday if the VC did not come to the campus and concede their demands.