BENGALURU: The 17th annual convocation of Tumkur University, chaired by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, went off smoothly under tight security on Wednesday as there was apprehension that supporters of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah could lay siege to the venue. Those attending the convocation were frisked to ensure that they were not carrying any black cloth.
The caution was because the governor has issued a show-cause notice to the CM in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority site allotment case.
In his speech, Gehlot said, “In ancient times, our country was ‘Vishwaguru’ in knowledge with Nalanda, Takshashila and Vikramashila universities attracting students from across the globe. Now, the Prime Minister has taken the initiative to reclaim that accolade and he inaugurated a new campus of Nalanda recently.”
Former ISRO chairman
AS Kiran Kumar delivered the convocation address. The governor conferred honorary doctorates to industrialist HG Chandrashekar, who is supplying copper raw material for the construction of Vande Bharat train coaches, and swimmer SC Naganandaswamy. The governor, who is the chancellor of state universities, and Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar travelled together from Bengaluru to Tumakuru and returned in the same car.