The Ahmedabad School Board has whipped up a controversy with its circular asking all schools to hold 'Saraswati Vandana' on Vasant Panchami tomorrow, drawing accusations of promoting ruling BJP's Hindutva agenda and warnings of legal action and protest by Congress.

"Vasant Panchami is the occasion to remember the Goddess of knowledge Ma Saraswati. To make students understand the importance of education, schools need to organize Saraswati Puja and make students recite prayers of Saraswati during prayer gathering. Also, make them understand how Vasant Panchami is celebrated in other states," reads the January 19 circular issued by the board.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's (AMC) School Board runs around 450 primary schools in the city, including 64 Urdu medium schools, mostly in Muslim dominated areas attended by around 16,000 students from the minority community.