Kerala CM says his govt does not wish to take over Governor's position as Chancellor of universities

In his response to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's allegation on political interference in the functioning of universities, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday denied the allegations and said his government has not tried to take away the rights of chancellor and will never try.

Speaking to reporters in Kannur, Chief Minister said that Governor should continue in Chancellor's post as the Kerala government never desired for the post.

"University chancellor post is not something that we are desire. We do not have any such intention. The government has not made any such move. What government wishes is that the Governor should continue in that post," he said.

The Chief Minister further said that Chancellor's rights are given through law.

"Government has not tried to take away those rights and will never try. I am giving that assurance from the government. He should continue in the chancellor post given to him by the legislative assembly. Governor has made some statements related to this. Hope that he will see the government's open mind and back off from this. As chancellor, governor has all the freedom to express his opinion," Vijayan said.

Vijayan was answering the allegation raised by the Governor that he cannot perform his duties as chancellor of universities due to political interventions.

"The appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University was signed by the Governor. The denial after signing was not correct. The rejection of the signed order may be due to other interference. Deviations in the Governor's position may be due to pressure," the Chief Minister added.

Governor had sent a letter to Chief Minister on December 8 asking him to bring an ordinance to hand over the powers of chancellor to Chief minister.

Opposition parties Congress and BJP have criticized Chief Minister and State Government for nepotism and political interference in universities.

Opposition parties also demanded judicial enquiry on all appointments in universities made by Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the last six years.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for States V Muraleedharan has said that instead of answering to the issues in the public domain, Chief Minister was trying to confuse the people of the state by replying to some of his own creation.

"He is trying to put the needle of suspicion on the governor by saying that it was on the basis of an agreement of the governor that the procedure was violated," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )

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