New Delhi
Upping the ante on the ruling BJP, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today signed an online petition seeking the withdrawal of Harvard University alumni status from Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha.

Sinha was recently photographed garlanding eight men convicted for lynching 55-year-old Alimuddin Ansari in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh last year on suspicions that he was carrying beef. The convicts are on bail pending their appeal.

“If the sight of a highly educated MP and Central Minister Jayant Sinha, garlanding and honouring criminals convicted of lynching an innocent man, fills you with disgust, click on the link and support this petition,” Gandhi said, endorsing a move by Prateek Kanwal, a Harvard graduate.

The petition to Harvard University President Lawrence S Bacow cites the “intemperate behaviour of Sinha” to seek withdrawal of the Harvard alumni tag from him. Sinha is Harvard Business School graduate of 1992.

Ruing the surge in mob related violence over the past months, the petition says, “In the last seven months, there have been over 70 mob attacks, where close to 33 people have been killed.