Criticism stings govt, circular for students at PM event withdrawn

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In what seems to be a move to avoid controversy, the state gover nment on Wednesday withdrew the circular which demanded that the principals of Pre-University (PU) colleges of Bengaluru Rural should ensure that their students attend PM Narendra Modi’s event at the city’s international airport set to take place on Friday.

The circular first appeared on Tuesday and the media reports to this effect had generated outrage in some circles. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar had said that the PM was most welcome to the city but it wasn’t prudent that “17 and 18-year olds were being used for politics.”

Modi will be at the airport on Friday along with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and others to inaugurate the second terminal at the facility and the ‘statue of prosperity’, which is an idol of Bengaluru founder Kempegowda that is more than 100 feet in height.

Officials however insisted that the circular was withdrawn since there was no security clearance for students to be present in proximity to the PM. Interestingly, the airport’s PR team also gave the same reason for withdrawing the invitation to journalists, who were originally supposed to attend a walkthrough of the new terminal on Friday

In the circular, the Deputy Director of PU Education, Bengaluru Rural had asked all government, aided and private colleges in Bengaluru Rural district to ensure that students are ferried to the airport in buses arranged for the same purpose. The circular makes a mention of a meeting which was held on November 2, wherein the topic was discussed.