Bhopal: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday opposed the naming of a Sainik school being established under PPP mode in Madhya Pradesh after the late nephew of state minister Prahlad Patel.

In a press note, the CPI(M) said the school is being named after Maninagendra Singh, nephew of BJP leader and state panchayat minister Prahlad Patel and son of former BJP MLA Jaleem Singh Patel.

"The sixth Sainik school in MP is going to open in Gotegaon in Narsinghpur district. Defence minister Rajnath Singh is going to inaugurate it. The most worrying thing is that this school has been named after Maninagendra Singh," CPM state secretary Jaswinder Singh told reporters.

In 2021, a court in Narsinghpur sentenced him and four others to one year in jail in a criminal case, though he got bail from a higher court, Singh claimed.

Maninagendra Singh was arrested in 2023 for allegedly assaulting a Dalit in 2019 and remained in jail for about 15 days, Singh added.

Maninagendra Singh's wife had accused him of dowry harassment and had even filed an FIR and she had also claimed he was addicted to drugs, the CPI(M) leader further alleged.

"Maninagendra died in 2023 under suspicious circumstances. Usually, public institutions are named to honour those personalities who have contributed to the development of society and the country in various fields. We should be even more sensitive about naming educational institutions, specially Sainik schools," the CPI(M) leader said.

He said his party not only opposes the name chosen for the Gotegaon Sainik school but also wants the government to take over those Sainik schools "allotted to BJP-RSS leaders".

On April 28, Prahlad Patel had shared on X a letter of the Sainik School Society, Ministry of Defence giving 'provisional approval' for the school to be established by Maninagendra Singh Foundation in Narsinghpur's Gotegaon, Singh said.

"The approval came after Patel, who is a former Union minister himself, called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on April 25 in New Delhi," the CPI(M) leader said.

In the last four years, the defence ministry has granted permission to five Sainik schools under PPP mode in Mandsaur, Neemuch, Khargone, Katni and Narmadapuram in, the Marxist leader claimed.

"The operation of all these schools has been handed over to organizations affiliated with the RSS. These schools get large scale grants. We are all aware of the fascist communal ideology of the RSS. We know how attempts are made to poison the tender psyche of children in Saraswati Shishu Mandirs," he alleged.

"The same effort will now be made in Sainik schools. If the children coming from these schools join the army, then what will happen to the secular and independent character of the army. This should be a matter of concern for all of us," he claimed.

The CPI(M) leader claimed 70 per cent of the 61 Sainik schools coming up nationwide under PPP mode have been "handed over to RSS and BJP leaders for operation".

He said the Indian Army is counted among the most disciplined, dedicated and brave armies of the world and its belief in secularism, communal harmony and humanity and its glorious past raise hopes for a bright future.

But since the Modi government came to power at the Centre, this very reputation and identity of the army is being put at stake, he alleged.
Hitting back, MP BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi told PTI the ideology of leftist parties was to divide the nation.

"They think that all are like them. The ideology of RSS and BJP is nationalism and country first. RSS is a character building organization. The committee decides the opening of schools and names. The communists should stop doing poisonous politics over it," he said.