Congress said the action against the students was a serious offence by the authorities

The Congress on Saturday complained to the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer against the recent "expulsion" of six students by a university citing the model code of conduct, after they wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over certain "social problems" in society.

The Congress also sought to know under what right the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University (MGIHU), based in Wardha in east Maharashtra, took action on its own against the students citing the model code, which has been in force for the October 21 assembly polls.

The students were expelled on October 9. The Congress asked the election officer to take action against the university officials, adding that the students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes neither represent any political party nor further any political agenda.

The opposition party said the action was a serious offence by the authorities as a university is supposed to encourage free exchange of thoughts and freedom of expression.

"Their crime was that many students were writing letters to the Prime Minister with a desire to bring to his notice social problems currently faced by our society. The action also indicates the partisan approach by the university because only six Scheduled Castes and OBC students were singled out for action," a Congress delegation, led by its Maharashtra unit general secretary Sachin Sawant, said in a letter to the election officer.

The Congress said it was "very disturbing" to see that a government institution was taking the law into its own hands "without any authority".