The tussle between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the CPI(M)-led government over alleged political interference in universities is snowballing into a scandal, putting the government on the defensive.
Letters written by Higher Education Minister R Bindu to the Governor, which are now public, indicate that he may have been under pressure from the government on the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of Kannur University. Khan had earlier threatened to quit as Chancellor of universities, suggesting that he was under pressure to violate laid down procedures and norms in appointments in universities. He had alleged that as Chancellor, he was forced to act against his conscience on the re-appointment of Prof Gopinath Ravindran as V-C of Kannur University for a second term.