THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the government remained silent after its meddling in university appointments came out in the open, the Opposition UDF and BJP stepped up their attack on the ruling dispensation.
On Monday, a letter written by Higher Education Minister R Bindu to Governor (Chancellor) Arif Mohammed Khan, recommending the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur University vice-chancellor, became public. The minister refused to speak to the media when she was approached for comments on the issue.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said Bindu’s silence was an admission of her guilt and demanded her resignation. “The minister has no right to continue in office. If she refuses to quit, the chief minister should demand her resignation,” Chennnithala told reporters here.
Chennithala said Bindu’s letter is a clear example of nepotism and corruption. There is serious dereliction of duty on her part, he added. Chennithala reminded that E P Jayarajan and K T Jaleel had to step down from the first Pinarayi government when they faced similar charges.
The Congress leader said he would approach the Lok Ayukta against the minister. “The governor himself has admitted that he erred in the appointment of Kannur University vice-chancellor. By writing a letter on a matter in which she had no say, it is clear that the minister was directly involved in all the irregularities,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP’s youth wing Yuva Morcha took out a march to Bindu’s official residence here demanding her resignation. Waving black flags, the Yuva Morcha activists tried to barge into her residence but were arrested and taken away by the police.