Kerala varsity senate meeting row: Guv calls minister R Bindu 'criminal'

Thiruvananthapuram: In a scathing attack against higher education minister R Bindu over the row related to the senate meeting at Kerala University, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday said the minister was a 'criminal' for presiding over the meeting in her capacity as pro-chancellors of the state university.

Khan said Bindu intruded into the senate hall and presided over the meeting. "I'm not interested in responding to criminals," said the governor hitting out at the minister. 

Bindu, in her reply, told reporters that Khan's comment does not warrant a reply. “He is framing all people as criminals,” Bindu said.

Amid all the high-end political drama, it is speculated that Khan would nullify the Senate's decision to withdraw from nominating a representative to the search committee responsible for finding a new Vice-Chancellor (VC).

The governor has reportedly sought legal advice in this regard. Kerala University VC and 11 nominees of the governor reached Raj Bhavan on Sunday morning to hold talks with Khan.

Recently, Kerala University officially informed the governor of the senate's decision not to nominate any representative to the search committee for electing a permanent Vice-Chancellor. The university has no permanent VC since October 2022.

On Friday, an altercation broke out between the Higher Education Minister R Bindu and the interim VC Mohanan Kunnummal during the senate meeting at the university. The argument began when the minister proposed to defer the nomination process, as the CPM was of the view that there was no need to suggest a name as the Bill passed by the Assembly to change the structure of the search committee is under the President's consideration.

Bindu, who is also the pro-vice-chancellor came to the meeting to clarify this position. The VC pointed out that he summoned the meeting and the minister had no right to preside over the meeting or read the agenda. Referring to this incident, the governor called the minister a criminal.