A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s event to lay the foundation stone of a college under Delhi University named after Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Congress’s student wing NSUI has demanded that the institution be named after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Singh passed away on December 26.

National Students Union of India (NSUI) president Varun Choudhary on Thursday wrote a letter to Modi stating that if the new institution is named after Singh, it will inspire generations and honour the former Prime Minister’s transformative vision.

Delhi University has announced that Modi will lay the foundation stone of three projects on Friday, including an academic block each in the east campus and the west campus and the building of Veer Savarkar College at Roshanpura in southwest Delhi.

“You are to inaugurate a college named after Veer Savarkar under the University of Delhi. NSUI strongly demands that this institution be named after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singhji. His recent passing has left a deep void, and the most fitting tribute to his legacy would be to dedicate a premier educational institution in his name,” said
the letter.

Choudhary said Singh’s contribution to education included the establishment of new IITs, IIMs, AIIMS and a network of central universities. The NSUI also demanded a central university dedicated to Singh and the inclusion of his journey, from a post-Partition student to a global icon, in academic curricula. “The government must act immediately to recognise his unparalleled contributions to India,” the letter said.