Union MoS for HRD Katheria calls NSUI members 'dogs'

The Agra MP and Union MoS for HRD Ram Shankar Katheria raised a serious uproar in the social and political circles of Agra, when he termed NSUI members of Agra as 'Dogs', in a statement retaliating against the NSUI's campaign against Katheria's unauthorised occupation of a house inside the Dr. B R Ambedkar University campus.

Katheria seems to be having a long string of bad luck ever since he became MP. The disputes over his alleged fake degree and drawing salary from Dr. B R Ambedkar University while being on extended leave have yet to settle down, when he has landed into another dispute with the University serving him notice to vacate his house inside University Teachers' hostel.

Answering the allegations made by the NSUI against him for unauthorizedly occupying the University campus, Katheria said that 'Kutte Bhaunkte hain aur mera promotion hota jaata hai' (Dogs bark and I keep getting promoted). This statement has drawn serious criticism from the social and political circles of Agra with even some BJP leaders terming it as a grave error on part of the Minister.

Meanwhile, talking to India Today, University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mohd. Muzammil said that it had been charged by some National Students Union of India (NSUI) members that Prof. Katheria was on leave from the University since he became MP in 2009, being re-elected in 2014 and since then, he had not paid any rent for the house he had been allotted in the University campus. Upon inquiry, this allegation was found to be correct to some extent as Prof. Katheria is indeed on leave since 2014 and now he has been served notice to either vacate the house, or clear up the pending rental dues.

Answering the allegations, Prof. Katheria said that he was unaware of the fact that the dues were not being settled on a monthly basis as usually, the rental was supposed to be deducted by the University from his salary, but since he was on extended leave, the salary was stopped and so the rental payments also stopped. He claimed that he had himself requested the University to intimate him of the dues and as soon as he gets the University's assessment of the total due rental, he will clear up the dues immediately.

However, Katheria refused to comment on the second NSUI allegation that he was running political activities from the university campus which was creating difficulties for the other residents of the campus and making this controversial statement terming the NSUI workers as dogs, he claimed that he was only doing what constituted his office as a people's representative of Agra.

Commenting on Katheria's explanation about this issue, Samajwadi Party city president Raisuddin said that Katheria seems to have forgotten all his manners and is unaware of what he can speak in public and what he cannot. He said that this was a highly objectionable statement and looks like the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had no control over his cabinet's minister.

Raisuddin said that Katheria's presence inside the University campus was creating a nuisance for the rest of the residents. Recently, when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Katheria's residence, the entire university campus was sealed for hours while the Prime Minister was there and this was highly inconvenient for the campus residents. He said that the University campus was not a place to be used for political activities and Katheria was running all his political activities from here which caused a lot of commotion inside the campus. He said that Katheria should vacate the University premises immediately as his presence inside the campus was not desirable to the rest of the residents.