'Politically Motivated': Mumbai College Rebuffs Uddhav Sena MP's 'Forced Session' Claim

Several leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi shared videos on social media claiming that students of Mumbai’s Thakur College of Science and Commerce were forced to attend a seminar of Dhruv Goyal, son of Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday.

The college administration rejected the claims calling them “politically motivated”. Priyanka Chaturvedi disseminated a “manipulated video” pertaining to this interaction, seemingly with “political motivations” which has led to an “unwarranted controversy, overshadowing what was an otherwise successful and well-received event,” the college said in a statement.

The session was organised by the college administration, reported India Today, adding that Goyal was speaking about the accomplishments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

College Administration Responds

The college claims that the event was hosted to encourage students, particularly first-time voters to actively participate in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections 2024.

“Thakur College recently hosted an event aimed at encouraging our students, particularly first-time voters, to actively participate in the upcoming general elections. As part of this initiative. we were honored to welcome Mr. Dhruv Goyal for a meaningful dialogue with these first- time voters,” a statement from the college administration.

Some reports stated that the ID cards of the students were confiscated and the exit doors of the college premises were locked, however, college administration through a press release said otherwise.

Free Press Journal spoke with some students of the college who said that they were stressed about their exam and the behaviour of the management further aggravated the situation. The English daily also reported that some students were asked to ‘immediately’ delete the videos posted on social media platforms and a student was also made to shut up when he dared to raise his voice.

The report further added that once Goyal left the campus, the principal of the college, CT Chakraborty ‘reprimanded’ the students about their uncooperative behaviour.

The video of the session is now viral on social media where netizens and opposition leaders are criticising the session.

Opposition Parties Reacts

Reacting to the video, Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on the microblogging site, X “Students of Thakur College in Mumbai were forced to attend Dhruv Goyal, son of Union Minister Piyush Goyal session. The students say their IDs were confiscated to ensure that they are compulsorily present when he speaks. What a shame!”

The principal of the college also alleged that Chaturvedi shared ‘manipulated’ video of this interaction with a ‘politcal motivation’. “We have been made aware of a situation involving Ms. Priyanka Chaturvedi, who has disseminated a manipulated video pertaining to this interaction, seemingly with political motivations. This has led to an unwarranted controversy, overshadowing what was an otherwise successful and well-received event,” read the college statement.

She also shared her response to the press release of the college claiming that the college needs to apologise to her since she has evidence and information to support her claim.

Former Maharashtra minister and son of Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray also took a jibe at the party that the BJP was sending out a message to the world regularly that they don’t want the country to be a democracy any more.