Kanpur, July 4 -- The headmaster of a government primary school in Kanpur has been suspended following the allegation that a political event was held on the school premises in Parmat locality of the city on July 1. The BJP strongly criticised the programme to mark the birthday of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, accusing the SP of using government institutions for political purposes. In response, the BJP alleged that the row was linked to local political rivalry. Hariom Singh, Kanpur's basic shiksha adhikari, suspended Naveen Kumar Tripathi, the headmaster, after an inquiry found that an unauthorised programme, including the display of banners and cake-cutting, was organised at the primary school during school hours. The suspension order said the headmaster had given precedence to the political event over his official responsibilities. Tripathi, however, denied any wrongdoing. "The suspension is based on two grounds - first, an unauthorised celebration was held on the school premises. Second, the headmaster neglected his responsibilities in implementing the government programmes like School Chalo Abhiyan," BSA Singh said. Tripathi, in his written explanation to the education department, said he had acted in connection with a school uniform distribution programme proposed by Ramesh Awasthi, the BJP MP from Kanpur, According to the headmaster, the programme was originally scheduled for July 1 but was postponed to July 6 because of the Teachers Eligibility Test and he believed the arrangements on that day (July 1) were in accordance with those directions. Awasthi rejected the claim, saying he had only discussed a programme to measure students for school uniforms and had no knowledge of any celebration marking Yadav's birthday. Amitabh Bajpai, the SP MLA from Kanpur's Arya Nagar who attended the event, denied allegations that he cut a birthday cake with students on the school campus....