Venue for cancelled PM rally, SP College ground, still filled with slush, stirs political row

Modi was to inaugurate a new line of Pune Metro along with other development works in the city. With Maharashtra expected to go to polls shortly, the BJP was also to sound the poll bulge on this occasion.

Ex-Pune mayor and NCP (SP) city chief Prashant Jagtap said, “SP College management is doing favouritism to the BJP. SP College doesn’t allow any national party to use its ground in this way, but for a BJP-Modi rally the ground was made available. Rs 1 crore has been spent to destroy a ground at a college where national and even international students come to study. It is an example of how a college can be biased in favour of a political party.”

Congress chairman for media and communication (Maharashtra) Akshay Jain said, “It’s pathetic. In the videos the next day it can be seen the government is not at all concerned about the ground. Is the ground for students or for political agenda? Last year for RSS functions SP school declared holidays for students so that RSS could use it. The culture of SP administration has become such, students don’t matter to them.”

“The ground is for the students. Whatever subsidised land the government might have given is for the benefit of the students. Why was concrete used? That has completely ruined the ground and it might take lakhs or crores of rupees to level the ground, which will be borne from students’ fees. Maha Metro might clear out their construction but who will do the levelling of the ground? The college will do it using students’ fees. That contract will also be given to a politician. Modi is not the Prime Minister of the BJP, he’s the Prime Minister of the country. The promotion was done for BJP with lotus symbols. Even Murlidhar Mohol had put banners and social media posts of BJP and lotus,” Jain added.

Pune Metro PRO Hemant Sonawane said, “The event had programmes from six-seven ministries. We were the nodal agency. We are in touch with the owners of SP College and we will restore the ground just like they ask us to. This has nothing to do with any party, we will restore it. The finance department will calculate the budget for the event. I don’t have the estimate.”

On whether they had permission to pour concrete, Sonawne said, “Whatever was needed to be done for the rally, we had to do it. When we ask for permission for a rally we don’t specify everything, it is implied. All other options were also considered like MIT College ground where an earlier event took place, Sakal ground, and police ground. SP was decided as it was nearby and the biggest.”

Adv Sadanand Phadke, president, Shikshana Prasaraka Mandali, under the aegis of which SP College was established in 1916, said, “The first question that needs to be asked is when PM’s address is planned and its venue is finalised, is there even a question of saying no? We do not have the authority to do that.”

Phadke also pointed out that once the ground is taken under the Special Protection Group (SPG), they don’t let anyone else in. He said a lot of work was done on the ground using girders and concrete so rains don’t become an obstacle for the event.

“I visited the ground the night before the address was scheduled. The slush was knee-deep and then there was a red alert, it didn’t seem possible for the address to take place. Now it is their responsibility to get the ground back to normal and they are working towards it. In that time period if someone wants to use the ground, they will be inconvenienced.”

Talking about a video which has been doing rounds on the interest where some people are seen calling out “the menace that the SP ground has turned into”, Phadke said, “In the clip, towards the end there is one sentence that just like this BJP has turned the entire country into slush. That clearly shows that it is made by a person with certain agenda.”

BJP media incharge Sanjay Mayekae said, “This event was not organised by the BJP but by Pune Metro (Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd). SP College does not give out its ground to any political party. But it gives its ground to governmental organisations like the PMC etc. The Metro is funded by the Union, state, and city governments. Where does the question of BJP come in?”

Three days after his visit to Pune was cancelled, Modi inaugurated the Shivajinagar to Swargate stretch of Pune Metro on Sunday through video-conferencing.