Governor Packs MG University Senate With Sangh parivar, BJP Members

Kottayam: The Governor has reorganised the Senate of Mahatma Gandhi University, nominating 19 members to the 30-seat body — nearly all of them drawn from Sangh Parivar and BJP-affiliated organisations. The notification was issued on Thursday. The remaining 11 members of the Senate are heads of various university departments and deans.

The reorganisation comes on the heels of the Governor's appointment of a Sangh Parivar-linked teachers' union leader from Cochin University as Vice Chancellor — a move that reportedly had the tacit approval of the UDF government and triggered widespread protests. BJP State Vice President Shaun George and other leaders had visited the new VC on Wednesday.

Among those nominated by the Governor are BJP National Committee member J Prameeladevi— a former BJP candidate from Pala in the 2021 assembly elections who switched from Congress — in the writers' category; N Shankarraman, an active RSS member and State Vice President of the Abhivaktha Parishad; Ganeshchandra Prabhu of the BJP's college teachers' organisation; R Jigi, K Rajesh Mohan, and N Manu of the National Teachers Union (BJP's school teachers' body); and S Megha, a former ABVP activist from Kalady Sanskrit University. A local correspondent for Mathrubhumi who was included in the journalism category is also described as a Sangh Parivar sympathiser.

A Senate meeting had been scheduled for May 26 to select a university representative for the VC search committee, but was postponed on the 25th following discussions between Higher Education Minister Roji M John and the Governor — after which the Governor proceeded to appoint the Sangh Parivar-linked VC at Cochin University without even a government panel being submitted. The same Governor who had proposed banning student politics at Malayalam University has now packed the MG University Senate with BJP-affiliated nominees.