Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) defied Chancellor Arif Mohammed Khan’s directive by choosing not to nominate a representative to the search-cum-selection committee to appoint the next Vice-Chancellor.
A majority of members in the General Council, the university’s supreme body, voted against a resolution moved by Vice-Chancellor in-charge B. Ashok to nominate former Vice-Chancellor P. Rajendran to the selection panel here on Tuesday.
Notably, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, who is the Pro Chancellor of the university, was also among the 19 Left Democratic Front (LDF)-backed members who voted against the resolution, while four members, including those aligning with the United Democratic Front (UDF), adopted a favourable stance.
The LDF members remained firm in their stance that a representative should not be nominated at a time when a University Amendment Bill that proposed to alter the composition of the selection committee awaited Presidential assent. On the other hand, the Congress members claimed that the official resolution moved by the Vice-Chancellor was legally valid and ought to be passed since no other name was proposed.
Raj Bhavan, which had issued an ultimatum on January 29, had given KAU 15 days to nominate its representative, failing which it would proceed with the selection process on its own. The university has been awaiting a regular posting of Vice-Chancellor for nearly a year.
With Kerala University and the Cochin University of Science and Technology set to take up the same issue for discussion on February 16 and 17 respectively, the strategy adopted by LDF members in the respective bodies is certain to remain unchanged.
