He had been invited as chief guest at the inauguration of Mumbai varsity's Kalyan sub-campus; ABVP members felt he was not the man for the job
Two ABVP members had bruises on their faces and hands as they were allegedly beaten up by members of Yuva Sena
The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) might have kissed and made up before the elections, but all is not well with their students' councils and it showed in Kalyan on Thursday. Some members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Yuva Sena clashed at the inauguration of the Mumbai University's Kalyan sub-campus. ABVP members protested against Aaditya Thackeray's participation in the programme and Yuva Sena members beat up one of the protesters.
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The dramatic events took place when university Vice-Chancellor Suhas Pednekar's speech was going on. The police intervened and took the trouble-makers out of the hall. The inauguration took place two years after the campus was built and ABVP members were protesting against the university's decision to invite Yuva Sena Chief Thackeray as the chief guest. Around 40 members of the ABVP were detained by the Khadakpada police on Thursday morning for an hour for disrupting the inauguration ceremony.
N M Patil, senior inspector, Khadakpada police station, said, "We detained almost 40 ABVP protesters. Later they were released." Two ABVP members had bruises on their faces and hands as they were allegedly beaten up by members of Yuva Sena. "The police were under political pressure and hence did not arrest or detain members of the Yuva Sena though they manhandled our members and injured them," said Pranjal Mishra, the convenor (North East region), ABVP.
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"One should not politicise education or Mumbai University. There were other political leaders at the ceremony, but they are elected representatives. If the university has invited someone as chief guest at an educational institution, he should be more than just affiliated to a political party," added Mishra.
'Didn't do anything wrong'
"We tried to help the police control the situation. We did not do anything wrong or try to create any problem during the programme," said Yogesh Nimase, Yuva Sena, Kalyan. University officials did not respond.
40
No. of ABVP protesters detained by the police
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