Maharashtra education minister, Vinod Tawde has drawn criticism after he allegedly ordered the arrest of a student who was video recording his nasty interaction with students of mass media course at the Shri Shivaji arts and commerce college in Amravati district on 4th January. When questioned regarding exorbitant fees that made college unaffordable for some students, the minister is alleged to have quipped that these students should quit pursuing studies and look for employment instead. The minister then asked his security personnel to arrest Yuvraj Dhabade, a student who was recording the conversation. According to Dabhade following the minister’s orders, the police not only detained him but forcefully took away his mobile and deleted his mobile data.
While Vinod Tawde, a former Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) student leader has denied the allegations, the ruling BJP’s disgruntled ally in the state, the Shiv Sena (SS) is using the incident to highlight the BJP’s failure in addressing the concerns of the youth in the state. With the state going in for assembly elections in September this year, the BJP and SS have been increasingly involved in a war of words. Aaditya Thackeray, who leads the Yuva Sena -the SS’s youth wing took its protests against the minister’s alleged high-handed behavior to the streets.
Meanwhile Dabhade has submitted a letter to the police commissionrate in Amravati and the district collectorate against the minister as well as police officials involved in his detention.