BJP leader Prakash Javadekar, who is in charge of the party’s State affairs (Kerala Prabhari), accused the CPI(M)-led government of preventing Governor Arif Mohammad Khan from discharging his constitutional duties.
At a press conference here, he accused CPI(M) sympathisers of endangering Mr. Khan’s life at the venue of the history congress hosted by Kannur University in 2019.
Mr. Javadekar said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rewarded the CPI(M) leader who dissuaded the police from arresting those who imperilled Mr. Khan by posting the party functionary as his private secretary.
He said Education Minister V. Sivankutty had reminded Mr. Khan of the fate of Dewan C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, who survived an assassination attempt in 1947 (for opposing national integration and arguing for an independent Travancore).
Mr. Javadekar said the CPI(M) vilified and threatened Mr. Khan for not rubber-stamping the government’s erroneous decisions. It has unleashed anarchy in the State and is poised to lay siege to the Raj Bhavan on November 15, he said.
Universities controlled by CPI(M) favourites shunned eligible candidates for teaching posts by appointing unqualified and underqualified relatives of party leaders. University administration, including the appointment of Vice Chancellors, was at variance with UGC norms, he alleged.
The Supreme Court had recently struck down the appointment of the KTU Vice Chancellor after it found the procedure flawed and violative of UGC rules.
Mr. Khan, as Chancellor of universities, had demanded the resignation of other State universities’ vice-chancellors in adherence to the SC’s finding. Backdoor appointments via the political route were the norm in CPI(M) government municipalities, Mr. Javadekar said.
The government has unleashed the police to quell the BJP’s democratic protest against Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran, who is facing grave charges of nepotism in Municipal appointments, he said.
