BENGALURU: The Chief Minister’s Office and Raj Bhavan seem to be heading on a collision course over appointment of Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University. While Raj Bhavan is said to be keen on appointing a person with RSS backing, the CMO is pushing for a minister’s relative for the post.The file regarding appointment of Vice-Chancellor to the University of Mysore and Bangalore University was sent to the Raj Bhavan last week, but no order has been issued even after five days. Usually, the Raj Bhavan responds in two days.
The tug of war is apparently over two names: Prof K R Venugopal, who is principal of University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bengaluru, and backed by Governor Vajubhai Vala, and Prof Sangamesh Patil from Karnataka University Dharwad, who is Siddaramaiah’s choice.Vala has written to the Chief Minister seeking to know why the government prefers Patil over Venugopal.
Official sources from the CMO have confirmed receipt of the letter. “In the letter, the Governor mentioned that Venugopal has good experience in administration,” said a source. Meanwhile, sources from Raj Bhavan said the Governor even cross-checked Venugopal’s antecedents after there were allegations about his caste certificate.
In the past, Prof Venugopal has lost in the V-C race at least four times though his name was recommended by the search committee, including for Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi.For appointment of Mysore University V-C, the Governor is verifying the allegations against two names in the panel recommended by search committee.
While Siddaramaiah recommended Prof Siddashrama’s name, sources from Raj Bhavan said senior BJP and RSS leaders are backing Prof R K Somashekar. They said both the orders are expected to be out by Wednesday. When Yeddyurappa was the chief minister, there was also a constant fight between BJP and the then Governor H R Bhardwaj.