DU fake degree row: ABVP’s Ankiv Baisoya says he studied ‘several types of subjects’ in Vellore
New Delhi : The newly-elected Delhi University Students’ Union president Ankiv Baisoya said that he had studied “several types of subjects” at Thiruvalluvar University in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore from 2013 to 2016. However, he had trouble recalling the specific subjects included in his Bachelor of Arts programme and also the names of any heads of department.
A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliate, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, 23-year-old Baisoya had obtained admission in Delhi University’s postgraduate Buddhist Studies programme this year by submitting marksheets that are ostensibly from Thiruvalluvar University, a state university. He says that he graduated from there in 2016.
But the Tamil Nadu branch of the Congress Party and its students’ group, the National Students Union of India, had the documents he submitted vetted by the university. Its controller of examinations declared the document a “fake certificate”. On Tuesday, the National Students Union of India circulated images of that letter, the envelope in which it had arrived and a photocopied marksheet.
Baisoya, however, described the documents the rival union was circulating as “a fraud”. He said: “Their attempt to create a controversy over the [electronic voting machines] used in the polls did not work, that is why they are questioning my degree. Whatever these documents are, they can be verified and I will fully cooperate with the process.” NDTV has reported Thiruvalluvar University officials insisted that no one named had Ankiv Baisoya studied there.
“It is incumbent on DU administration to investigate and expel Ankiv Baisoya if certificate [is] fake,” said Ruchi Gupta, a Congress member in charge of the National Students’ Union of India. “Needless to say, he will also no longer remain [Delhi University Students’ Union] president.” Rival students leaders, especially those from the Left, gleefully noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s postgraduate degree in political science from Delhi University also has a question mark dangling over it.
But as in Modi’s case, Delhi University has not addressed the Baisoya issue. “I have had so many calls from the media since morning but none from the university,” the Parishad leader said. “No one from the university has called and said, ‘Your degree is a fake.’”
KTS Sarao, the head of Buddhist Studies, a department singularly rich in student leaders, told The Indian Express: “When there is a complaint raised, that is the time degrees are verified. There is a department in the university which does this. For now, we have not received any complaint.” But on Wednesday morning, the National Students’ Union of India announced it would file a police complaint against Baisoya for alleged forgery and another with the university.
Life in Vellore
There is practically no trace of Baisoya’s life in Vellore on his Facebook page although it is rich in photographs from campaigns and protests in Delhi University over much the same period – he is either in them or has been tagged on them.
For example, he has been tagged on a photograph posted on Facebook on October 17, 2014, which is clearly of a protest at Delhi University’s Faculty of Arts. The Parishad’s present state secretary, Bharat Khatana posted the photo of another protest on November 12, 2014, and tagged Baisoya on it. Khatana and a noticeably slimmer Baisoya, appear in a third photo, posted six days later, both wearing the Parishad’s name-tags. Photographs from the next two years are more numerous, especially from 2016 when he clearly helped campaign for the Parishad’s candidate for president, Satender Awana, who had also won.
Asked to explain why he appears in campaign material and protest photographs in Delhi but there is none of his life in Vellore, he said: “Mera up-down hota rehta tha” – I kept travelling back and forth between Vellore and Delhi. “In the middle I would go for examinations, some classes or if I had some work but most of the time I was in Delhi only,” he added. He also insisted that he had attended a “regular programme” and not a distance-learning or correspondence one that could have explained his ubiquity in Delhi’s student politics in that period.
About his student life, he appeared to remember nothing. Asked which subjects he studied as part of his arts programme, Baisoya could not name a single one except English: “I wrote several types of exams, in English and skilled-based subject.” Upon being prodded on whether he did history or any other discipline, he said he studied “several types of subjects – skill-based subjects, core, allied”. He could not recall the name of the head of any department.
This vagueness is reflected in at least one marksheet shared by the National Students’ Union of India. It apparently represents his performance in the third semester and in place of subjects, it gives the type of course it was – “core theory”, “allied III” and “skill based subject”. The semester stretched from May 2014 till June 2015, even though it seems improbable that the semester lasted a whole year. In addition, the marksheet was issued before the semester was finished, on December 22, 2014. The document bears the names of Baisoya’s parents. The web address stated is “thiruvalluvaruniversity.ac.in” in place of the actual www.tvu.edu.in. As some reports have noted, there are errors in the Tamil version of the name printed on the certificate.
Delhi college
At the same time, there are hints on Baisoya’s Facebook page of his association with a Delhi college. In September 2014, he was tagged on campaign material but for a candidate contesting in a college election – commerce student Sumit Yadav was contesting the post of president in the students union of the College of Vocational Studies, affiliated to Delhi University. An Ankiv Baisoya appears in tutorial records of the college’s economics department in 2015 and 2016. Then, as recently as on September 10, popular student journal DU Beat profiled each candidate from the Parishad’s panel and described Baisoya as an economics graduate from the College of Vocational Studies.
But the Parishad has defended him, choosing to place the onus of fixing this on Delhi University. “Delhi University gave admission to Ankiv Baisoya after due verification of its documents,” said the institution’s media convenor. “Even today DU has all the right to verify documents of any student enrolled in university. But it is not the job of NSUI to provide certificates to any person.”
courtesy : scroll.in
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“Full prepared..going to win,” Congress MP KC Venugopal ahead of Kerala polls
EC not functioning as a neutral institution: Venugopal
Congress MP K. C. Venugopal on Monday raised concerns over the election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India for the upcoming Kerala Assembly election, questioning the timing of the poll dates and alleging that the schedule leaves limited time for campaigning.
Speaking to news agency ANI in Delhi after the poll panel announced elections in five states and Union Territories, Venugopal said that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are fully prepared for the elections and confident of victory. At the same time, he questioned the pattern of dates announced by the Election Commission.
“We are fully prepared, we are going to win the elections... You can see how the Election Commission has set the dates. The first phase of elections is on the 9th, nominations are due until the 23rd, scrutiny is on the 24th, nominations can be withdrawn until the 26th, and after that, there are 11 days for campaigning,” he said.
“As for Kerala, there is Easter and Good Friday in the first week...The Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier... The counting date is on May 4th, so what was the point of holding elections in Kerala so early? What is their intention behind holding elections on the same day in Kerala, Puducherry, and Assam?... We are confident that we will win, but the people of the country are seeing the biased attitude of the Election Commission...,” he added.
He further stated that his party was ready for elections irrespective of the dates announced by the poll body.
“We are going to win the election. India's strategy has been set up. And we are all ready for winning this election. But one thing as far as declaring election, even though they are giving only for five days, we are going to win the election. We have no problem,” he said.
Detailing the poll schedule while questioning the time available for campaigning, he stated, “but you can see the pattern of date which the election commission announced. Yesterday they declared election, and today they notified us. The first phase of election on April 9th, filing of nomination will be over on the 23rd of this month, 24th scrutiny, 26th withdrawal of nomination. After 26, four plus seven, 11 days campaign.”
“As far as Kerala is concerned, April first week is a holy week. The holiday week means, Good Friday is there. Nobody will do anything on Good Friday. Easter is the big festival. These festivals are natural, you have to see that. Among the 11 days, working days, two, three days will go for holidays. Then hardly seven, eight days for campaigning in this election for candidates,” the Congress MP questioned.
The Congress leader said the Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier if there was a need for an early election schedule.
Questioning the urgency behind placing Kerala in the first phase of polling, he added that the counting date is much later.
“Which is the date of counting? Fourth May. Then what is the urgency of putting Kerala in the first phase without giving sufficient time for candidates? And putting Kerala, Puducherry, Assam together, what is the intention behind that?” Venugopal questioned.
He also alleged that the Election Commission was not functioning as a neutral institution.
“The Election commission is completely losing that capacity as a neutral player. You can see 14 of our prime minister's programs over and on the 15th they announce the election, 16th notification comes,” he said.
Venugopal further stated that such tactics would not affect the Congress’ prospects in the election.
“They think that this type of techniques and tactics, because of these techniques and tactics, UDF is going to lose, and Congress is going to lose. This is their complete dream only. This is not going to happen. We are very much confident at any cost, whether they are not giving any time also, we are going to win the election,” he said.
“But the people of India are watching this. The tricks of the election commission. To restrict the campaign, people of India are watching. This I want to bring into the notice of the nation. That's all,” Venugopal said.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the Kerala Assembly election. Polling in the state will be held in a single phase on April 9 while the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.
