Gujarat: College principal resigns after reports that she asked students to join BJP

The principal of a college in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar on Monday resigned from her post following reports that she had asked students to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, The Indian Express reported.

On Monday, a purported notice by Rajnibala Gohil, the in-charge principal of Shreemati Narmadabai Chatrabhuj Gandhi Mahila College, was shared widely on social media.

“Every girl student of the college is hereby notified that: (1) Every girl student of the college shall bring a passport-size photo of hers for her registration as member of page committee of the BJP… (2) It is necessary for every girl student to carry her mobile phone to college for joining the [ongoing] member [enrolment] drive of the BJP,” the notice read.

Dhirendra Vaishnav, the executive director of the charitable trust that runs the college, said that he came to know about Gohil’s resignation when he went to the college on Monday morning.

“She [Gohil] told me that it was her moral duty to step down as principal after what had happened,” he said.

Vaishnav is the executive director of the Smt Rukshamanibahen Dipchand Gardi Bhavnagar Stree Kelavani Mandal.

He claimed that Gohil had sent the notice inadvertently after a woman had approached her about the BJP’s membership drive.

In March 2015, the Ryan International school in Delhi had urged teachers and students to enroll with the BJP, according to The Times of India. The school’s managing director Grace Pinto had confirmed that the drive had taken place, but had claimed that it was voluntary.

Sudha Singh, a senior executive at the school, had claimed that the drive was linked to the Swachh Bharat scheme and that the school had “no intention of creating any BJP movement”, according to ANI.

Singh had said that purported WhatsApp messages sent in this regard could not be regarded as authentic.