As the tussle for factional supremacy within the eminent Walchand College of Engineering in Maharashtra’s sugar-rich Sangli district rages on, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has distanced itself from the ‘coercive’ actions of its district chief, Prithviraj Deshmukh, who had last month reportedly forced the institute director to abdicate while illicitly installing his own candidate as director.
On Tuesday, a large body of the college alumni, along with college professors, calling themselves the Save Walchand Movement, severely chastised Mr. Deshmukh while protesting against the degeneration of lawful administration and voicing strong concern on the declining standards of education.
Deepak Shinde, an alumnus who is also a BJP member from Sangli, said, “His [Deshmukh’s] actions are impermissible. The director [Dr. Parishwad] was under such pressure that he could not even bring himself to lodge a police complaint. We are deeply concerned about the declining quality of education. Accordingly, we urge immediate intervention on part of the State government and request the appointment of an administrator to take charge of the college.” A week ago, Mr. Deshmukh, also the president of the Maharashtra Technical Education Society (MTES), had allegedly directed his ‘rowdies’ to take control of the college and oust the director, G.V. Parishwad.
Mr. Deshmukh’s men, led by MTES Secretary S.G. Kanitkar, reportedly stormed the campus premises and installed their preferred candidate, M.G. Devmane.
The MTES had set up the college in 1947 as the New Engineering College before its name was changed to Walchand College of Engineering in 1955. Since then, the college has been managed and run by the Administrative Council appointed by the Walchand Memorial Trust with the support of the Government of Maharashtra for the last five decades.
At the heart of the present crisis is a decades-long struggle for control and ownership between the MTES and the Seth Walchand Hirachand Memorial Trust (WHMT), with both groups filing cases against the other in the past.
Mr. Shinde said that Dr. Devmane’s forced appointment as Director was “utterly illegal” as it had no official sanction from either the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), or the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) or the Shivaji University in Kolhapur, all of whose members were part of the college’s Administrative Council (AC). Dubbing Mr. Desmukh an “usurper”, Mr. Shinde said that he had joined the party after defecting from the National Congress Party (NCP). He added that if the State government did not step in, then the former students would hit the street in protest against Deshmukh’s illegal actions.
Speaking to The Hindu , Sanjay Patil, the BJP MP from Sangli, said that he had sought an audience with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the matter. “His [Deshmukh’s] actions have certainly not been sanctioned by the party. I will request the Chief Minister to look into this.”
Earlier, noted industrialist Ajit Gulabchand, who heads the college’s Administrative Council (AC), had charged Mr. Deshmukh with illicitly attempting to seize control of the educational institute. Mr. Deshmukh has categorically repudiated the allegations, dubbing them “blatant lies.” He said that the present director, Dr. Parishwad, was replaced as he had reportedly failed to submit its accounts, creating issues for the MTES with both the Income Tax department and the Charity Commissioner.
