Congress takes up cudgels with Governor

Thiruvananthapuram: Differences between Kerala's ruling Congress and Governor P Sathasivam have come out in the open with the latest being the remarks by senior leader Vakkom Purushothaman against the Governor's approach.

Purushothaman, a former Mizoram Governor, said on Thursday that it was not proper for the Governor to indulge in the internal matters of universities in the State.

“It is just a legal norm that the Governor is the chancellor of all the universities. We should think whether such traditional norms should be followed in this period. I am of an opinion that the Governor should not act like that in a democratic system,” Vakkom said.

He also said that the Governor should function according to the democratic method.

The Congress had earlier come out against Sathasivam saying that the recent meeting of vice chancellors in the state called by him is without precedence.

State Congress party spokesperson M M Hassan had told reporters that the meeting called by Sathasivam Monday at Kochi was improper.

"At the meeting he announced the decision to form a chancellor's council, which is against law. The governor should have consulted the state government. What he did is interfering with the rights of government," said Hassan.

After the VC's meeting, the governor had told reporters that a chancellor's council would be set up to discuss issues in the higher education sector and would function as an effective forum for exchange of ideas and would meet once in three months.