THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI and the BJP have decided to step up agitation with the Law Academy management throwing their support behind college principal Lekshmi Nair.
The CPI state executive, which met on Sunday, decided to stand strongly by the students. “The report of the Kerala University Syndicate sub-committee has made the matter more complicated and revealed the plight of the students,” a senior CPI leader said.
Students of the college also are being subject to various forms of harassment as in some other self-financing colleges, he said. “We will stand by the students,” the senior leader said. BJP state general secretary K Surendran alleged that Lekshmi Nair was trying to “black-mail” senior hands in the state government. “Her statements after the discussion in the AKG Centre reveal this. The people should be told why the state government fears her,’’ Surendran said, addressing the public meeting held alongside the fast undertaken by party national executive member V Muraleedharan.
The ABVP announced on Sunday that it would step up agitations demanding the resignation of Lekshmi Nair as principal. The principal’s stand that she won’t step down despite the report of the university syndicate sub-committee shows the arrogance of the college management.
The Kerala University has the duty to protect the rights of the students, the ABVP said. The ABVP will continue with its agitation until Lekshmi Nair resigns and the government takes over the college, ABVP state secretary P Shyam Raj said.
As part of strenghtening the agitation across the state, the ABVP also started fasts outside the residences of Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan in Kasargod and Education Minister C Raveendranath in Thrissur.