A Sanskrit lecturer of Madya Pradesh’s Vikram University in Ujjain was suspended by the Congress-led government on disciplinary grounds after he had predicted a massive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The state government’s Higher Education Department recommended disciplinary action to be taken against the educator under the MP Universities Act, 1973.
Rajeshwar Shastri Musalgaonkar claimed to have made the prediction based on astrology and shared it on his Facebook timeline on April 29. He wrote: “BJP 300 ke paas aur NDA 300 ke paar (BJP will get near 300 seats and NDA more than 300).”
The lecturer, however, stated that he was politically neutral and that he did not wish to benefit any political party through his prediction. He also said the post was in response to a student’s query.
According to a report by the Indian Express, a Youth Congress worker from Ujjain filed a complaint with the district returning officer, claiming that, if a government employee made predictions of poll win, it implied his/her inherent bias towards that particular party, thus violating the Model Code of Conduct. This made it a punishable offence under the MP Civil Services (Conduct) Rules.
Following this, the district returning officer wrote to the divisional commissioner and sought the suspension of the lecturer. Eventually, on May 7, Musalgaonkar was suspended and attached to another department.
The 55-year-old head of the department of Sanskrit-Ved-Jyotirvigyan has claimed that astrology is a science of possibilities and probabilities. Therefore, the prediction he made was based on an analysis of the current political scenario, as well as the impact the celestial bodies on various political parties.
Moreover, he claimed that the comment was posted on Facebook by his student, who was using his phone without his knowledge. “The moment someone brought the post to my knowledge I deleted it and apologised for it,” he added.
The lecturer also alleged that he was not given a chance to present his case properly and, therefore, would move the High Court to upend the suspension order.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress Secretary Babloo Khinchi said, after Musalgaonkar had made the prediction, a BJP worker tweeted the same to influence voting.
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