The Kerala High Court will conduct a special sitting on Monday at 4 pm in the wake of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s decision to call for the resignation of Vice Chancellors (VCs) of nine universities.
The Governor’s decision was not taken kindly by the ruling CPI(M) state government terming it as an ‘attempt to appoint RSS members’ at the helm of varieties.
“It is a political agenda and will be countered by the state of Kerala,” CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told reporters.
Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu said that the “unilateral” decision of the Governor was a “deliberate and conscious effort” to create problems in the field of higher education in the southern state.
“It is a sad state of affairs. Attempts are being made to chain or control the government,” she claimed.
On October 23, the Governor directed the Vice Chancellors of Calicut, Sanskrit, KTU, CUSAT, Fisheries, Malayalam, MG, Kannur, and Medical University to put in their papers before 11:30 am on Monday.
The Governor’s office said that five of the Vice Chancellors were asked to go as they were selected without panel names during the selection of Vice Chancellor and thus “selected politically”. The remaining four were selected through a process wherein eminent subject experts were not present in the selection committee, it added.
Tensions have been brewing between the Governor and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the latter alleging the former of interfering in the affairs of the universities of the state as the Chancellor.
Khan has cancelled the appointment of 15 senate members of the Kerala University, which was not taken lightly by the LDF. The CPI-M leaders, including chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, came out strongly against the Governor.
In the latest, the Governor told that he refuses to speak to CPI-M cadres masquerading as journalists. Two weeks back, the Governor’s Facebook account was hacked. A complaint was also registered.
