Asked Vice-Chancellor to convene syndicate meeting but he didn't do so, says Kerala governor

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Sunday said that he, as Chancellor, directed Vice-Chancellor VP Mahadevan Pillai to convene a meeting of the university syndicate but Pillai did not convene it, so he wrote about the issue to President Ram Nath Kovind.

His remarks came after Congress MP KC Venugopal today wrote to President Kovind accusing Kerala Governor and the state government of dragging the President's office into their "political disputations" involving Kerala University Vice-Chancellor.

Speaking to media persons, Kerala Governor said, "I, as Chancellor, directed VC to convene a meeting of the syndicate but he did not convene the meeting. He is defying the Chancellor. So, I thought instead of confrontation, I would write to the government to appoint someone else as the Chancellor."

"Since I have written, I have received three letters from the Chief Minister. In each letter, he said that the government has no intention to interfere. I want to give them time to decide whether they want me to continue or not. If not, then they can bring an ordinance," he added.

Earlier today, Venugopal, in the letter, wrote, " "I wish to draw your kind attention to the most unfortunate event that has unfolded in last few days in Kerala, where your esteemed office has been dragged into political disputations."

"It is reported that the Kerala Governor, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the University, had issued a directive to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kerala to confer D Litt on the President. As per reports, the Vice-Chancellor violated the statute of the University and directly informed the Governor that the University Syndicate had turned down the proposal," the letter read.

However, later, the Governor summoned the Vice-Chancellor and urged him to give a written letter on the matter.

Venugopal, in the letter, said that Vice-Chancellor VP Mahadevan Pillai had purportedly written a letter, revealing that the VC had merely discussed the proposal with some Syndicate members and informed the Governor that the University Syndicate had turned down the proposal.

"The letter written by VC came out in public domain. It is also alleged that the handwritten letter was leaked to media by the Office of Governor itself to make the matter worse," the Congress MP said in the letter.

( With inputs from ANI )

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