A day after a BJP MP in Uttar Pradesh questioned the portrait of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the premises of Aligarh Muslim University, Hindu Yuva Vahini, an outfit founded by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the university to remove the portrait.
HYV vice-president Aditya Pandit said if the portrait was not removed in two days, Vahini members would do it forcibly.
On Tuesday, Aligarh MP Satish Gautam asked AMU to explain why it displayed a portrait of the Pakistan founder's picture. The MP's letter to the vice chancellor has triggered a row with Congress calling it a "diversionary tactic" of the BJP to avoid issues which impact common people.
Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said it was a diversionary tactic as development, women's security and health services for children were not on the BJP's agenda.
The fresh row came days after a student sought permission to hold an RSS shakha on its premises.
AMU spokesman Shafey Kidwai defended the portrait, apparently hanging there for decades, saying that Jinnah was a founder member of the University Court and granted life membership of the student union.
Traditionally, photographs of all life members are placed on the walls of the student union, he said.
"Jinnah was also accorded life membership of the AMUSU in 1938. He was the founder member of the University Court in 1920 and also a donor," the spokesman said.
With inputs from PTI