THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after Governor Arif Mohammed Khan ordered nine Vice-chancellors to step down, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday put the Opposition UDF in a tight spot by highlighting the differences of opinion among the constituent parties.
On Sunday while the Opposition Leader V D Satheesan welcomed the Governor's move to correct his earlier stand, IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer blamed Khan.
While addressing the media in Palakkad on Monday, Pinarayi highlighted the different views on the Governor's stand among the UDF allies. Mohammed Basheer who was also the education minister in the A K Antony Government had told a television channel on Sunday that the Governor's stand asking the nine Vice-chancellors to step down from office by Monday 11:30 am cannot be tolerated at any cost.
Mohammed Basheer recalled that as a former education minister he had been aware about the appointment of the Governors and their working style in close proximity. Later the IUML came out with an official statement in Kozhikode that the Governor had breached all limits, alleging a political agenda for his actions.
Soon, Satheesan came out with a statement citing that the Opposition is welcoming the Governor's directive asking the nine Vice-chancellors to resign. It should be recalled that the UDF had been repeatedly claiming that Vice-chancellors were appointed through backdoor as part of a Sangh Parivar agenda. So Satheesan welcomed the Governor's move and expressed happiness for changing his earlier stand.
Later, taking a cue from Satheesan, senior Congress MP K Muraleedharan also urged the LDF Government to shed their stubbornness as until now, wrong procedures were initiated.
"The Governor was also a party to this wrong procedure which is why the current turn of events had happened. Both parties are equally responsible for the imbroglio. The Opposition will not allow anyone to wreck the higher education sector", said Muraleedharan.
The differences of opinion among the UDF allies is seen as the lack of consultations among them.