Probe Ordered After UP MLA’s BJP Membership Drive in School

Chandauli district magistrate Navneet Singh Chahal has ordered an inquiry into BJP legislator Sushil Singh's party membership drive at a school in Chandauli, the Indian Express reported on Friday, 19 July.

A video of Saiyadraja BJP MLA Sushil Singh addressing the students in their classroom and welcoming them into the BJP fold has gone viral on the social media.

On Wednesday, 17 July, Sushil Singh had reportedly asked the students at a Chandauli school to fill in party membership forms while also making them wear saffron 'angavastram' with the BJP's symbol lotus embossed on it, news agency IANS reported.

The students also reportedly read out the party pledge during the membership drive that was carried out during school hours.

‘I Went There After the Classes Got Over,’ Says MLA Sushil Singh

The classes were also suspended for the event, according to IANS.

Sushil Singh, however, said that he went there after the classes got over.

"Students had called me as there was no library in school. I went there after school got over and assured them that they will get a library, he told news agency ANI on Friday.

"The students had asked me for scarves and they also took pictures with me. I advised them to associate with the BJP's ideology, and it wasn't a membership drive," Singh further said.

Chahal has reportedly asked District Inspector Of Schools Vinod Kumar Rai to submit a report by Friday. “Based on the findings of the report, we will be able to tell about the actual facts,” the IE report quoted Chahal as saying.

According to media reports, the students wanted to meet the MLA to build a library in the school, but they were, instead, made members of the party.

“Sushil Singh is a 'bahubali' (strong man) of the area and no one can dare to refuse his word. A number of children were minors but no one is concerned,” IANS had quoted a senior teacher as saying on Thursday.

(With inputs from The Indian Express, ANI and IANS)