AHMEDABAD: Students of Kumari MR Gardi Vidyalaya in Anindra’s Wadwan taluka, Surendranagar district in Gujarat have reportedly been enrolled as BJP members, sparking controversy.
As the debate over using students to meet BJP membership targets intensifies, the district education officer has issued a notice to the school principal, demanding an explanation. A Class-2 officer has been appointed to conduct a departmental inquiry and is required to submit a report within three days.
BJP has set a membership target for its office bearers in Gujarat, urging them to enroll as many people as possible. In an attempt to meet this goal, secondary school students from Anindra village in Wadwan taluka have been reportedly enlisted as party members.
According to local sources, the school principal instructed a teacher to send a message to the parents' WhatsApp group, directing students to bring mobile phones to school. Students were also required to bring their guardians’ phones, with a link to join BJP shared in the group.
Class 9 students, holding tricolours, registered online using the BJP link and received party membership cards. Photos of students being made BJP members soon went viral on social media, sparking outrage.
When questioned by local media, Surendranagar District Education Officer Arvind Ojha stated, “Upon learning that the secondary school in Anindra village is a grant-in-aid institution, we issued a notice to the school administrator, demanding an explanation within three days.”
“A Class-2 officer has also been assigned to conduct a departmental investigation into the roles of the teachers and principal involved, with a report due in three days. Actions will be taken against those responsible based on the findings of both investigations.” He added.
When asked about sharing the BJP link in the WhatsApp group, Chandresh Prajapati, a teacher at Kumari MR Gardi Vidyalaya, said, “The students were enrolled in BJP via the link on the instructions of Principal Mukesh Nimawat.”
However, Principal Mukesh Nimawat shifted the blame back to the teacher, stating, “I was in Delhi at the time on a 10-day leave, accompanying a friend who was receiving the President’s Award. I had no involvement in the matter.”
