NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Taking the Governor – Government clash in Kerala a notch higher, the state’s CPM-led Left Democratic Front government has dropped the governor Arif Mohammed Khan from the post of the chancellor of the Kerala Kalamandalam deemed university.
The state government amended the rules of the deemed university and announced on Thursday that it was changing the rules of the university to replace Mr Khan with an eminent person from the field of art and culture. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s administration has said it no longer wants the governor at the helm of universities in the state.
The governor, a BJP card holder before his appointment as governor by the BJP-led government at the centre is known for his near-daily run-ins with the state’s LDF administration. The two sides been increasingly at odds over functioning of universities, including appointment of Vice Chancellors.
The move came a day after friction between governors and governments in three non-BJP-ruled southern states spiked, with Tamil Nadu seeking a recall of RN Ravi, Kerala proposing a special ordinance to replace Mr Khan as chancellor of state universities, and Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed doubts of her phone being tapped in Telangana.
The amended rules of the deemed university also state that the governance system and management structure of the Kerala Kalamandalam shall follow the decisions of the state government.
(Manas Dasgupta)
