Pune University withdraws 'Voice of Devendra' competition notice after objection from NSUI

PUNE: The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SSPU) has withdrawn the notification for an elocution competition under the title "Voice of Devendra" after the NSUI, the Congress's student wing, opposed it, claiming the university was trying to implement the BJP's "hidden" agenda.

The university's National Service Scheme (NSS) wing had uploaded a notification, dated August 5, on its website and appealed to students to take part in the elocution competition organised under the title "Voice of Devendra", taking inspiration from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The government-run university's NSS coordinator, Dr Sadanand Bhosale, told PTI on Tuesday that the university was not organising the competition.

"The Swarambh Foundation, IFELLOW Foundation and Nashik Pratishthan are the organisers, who had written to the university that they are holding an elocution competition, under the title name 'Voice of Devendra', on the topic 'Developed Maharashtra'. The NSS wing received the letter, and we put the notification on the website, stating those who wished to participate could register themselves," he said.

Also read US Student Visa: Universities could see fall 2025 intake drop by 1.5 lakh over uncertainties, says report

Political agenda through competition, claims NSUI

Bhosale said some outfits assumed the NSS wing of the university is holding the competition. "We explained to them that we are not holding the competition and it was just posted so that interested students can take part, and now we have withdrawn the notification from the website," he said.

Members of the NSUI on Tuesday staged a protest in the university, demanding that the notification be revoked. "It seems that through such a competition, the university and the NSS wing are implementing the BJP's hidden agenda. We registered our protest, and after facing opposition, the NSS wing withdrew the notification," NSUI member Akshay Kamble claimed.

NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar, in a post on X, said, "First, the SPPU stated that they did not organise the competition, but now they withdrew the notification issued by National Service Scheme (NSS), which shows the varsity's double standards. Pawar said the issue of implementing political agendas is not just restricted to one competition. "We will expose all such politically driven agendas by the end of this month," he wrote.