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SPPU withdraws ‘Voice of Devendra’ contest notice after protest
The contest, organised by private organisations - Swarambh Foundation, IFELLOW Foundation, and Nashik Pratisthan - was named in honour of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The organisations wrote to SPPU National Social Scheme (NSS) wing, which announced it on its website,
Pune: The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has withdrawn its notification announcing an elocution competition titled “Voice of Devendra” after objections from the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Youth Congress, and Opposition leaders, who termed it an attempt at political glorification by the educational institution.
The contest, organised by private organisations - Swarambh Foundation, IFELLOW Foundation, and Nashik Pratisthan - was named in honour of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The organisations wrote to SPPU National Social Scheme (NSS) wing, which announced it on its website on August 5, appealing students for participation.
NSUI leaders alleged it was part of a larger effort to promote political personality worship on campus.
“The NSS was founded on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of nation-building. Its purpose is social service and national integration, not the worship of any political individual,” said Siddhant Jambhulkar of NSUI.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare also criticised the university on social media. Pawar posted, “Universities are temples of education and should not be part of any political agenda. Instead of political personality worship, universities should focus on improving academic quality.” Andhare questioned whether the autonomy of universities had been “mortgaged” by such actions.
The protests on Tuesday saw NSUI and other student groups gather outside NSS office, shouting slogans and demanding the resignation of acting NSS director Sadanand Bhosale, along with a written assurance that no politically-linked events would be organised in future.
In his defence, Bhosale said the event was not organised by SPPU but by external groups. “The contest was not to be held on the campus or in affiliated colleges. We had only issued the communication at their request. The circular has now been withdrawn and removed from the website,” he said.
According to Bhosale, similar competitions have been conducted earlier as well. “However, this event was not going to be held on the university campus or in any affiliated colleges,” he said.
Vaibhav Solankar, the competition’s state coordinator, accused Pawar of spreading misinformation and denied any political motive.
“Similar competitions have been conducted earlier as well. The university cancelled the related communication and removed it from its official website last night,” he said.
After the withdrawal, Pawar accused the university of “double standards” for denying involvement while retracting the notice. He warned to “expose all such cases” of political influence in the university by the end of the month.
