THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : For the first time in the history of Kerala University, its Syndicate is set to have two representatives from the BJP. Of the nine Syndicate seats to which election was held on Monday, two BJP candidates, who were earlier nominated by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to the senate, were elected to the apex varsity body.
While the LDF won six seats, the UDF could win only a single seat. Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute senior scientist Vinodkumar T G Nair and P S Gopakumar were the BJP nominees who were elected to the Syndicate from the general constituency.
However, the official declaration of the election results is subject to final orders from the High Court as the votes of 15 Senate members have not been counted based on the court’s direction.
The syndicate election witnessed dramatic moments earlier in the day when Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal insisted that the counting of votes could be carried out only on the specific directions of the High Court. SFI activists gheraoed the Vice Chancellor creating a tense situation in the varsity. Later, the court allowed the counting of votes barring the votes cast by 15 electors in the Senate.
Senate members including the vice-chancellor cast their votes in the Syndicate election. LDF senate members protested against the Vice Chancellor casting his vote on the grounds that he was not a permanent appointee to the top post.
With each candidate needing at least nine first preference votes to win, the election of one of the BJP candidates was certain as there were 12 pro-BJP electors in the Senate. However, to everyone’s surprise, a second candidate of the BJP also managed to win reportedly due to cross-voting or lack of coordination between rival fronts.
Both LDF and UDF accused each other for facilitating the win of the second BJP candidate. Notably, the election also witnessed heated exchanges between the CPM and the CPI after the representative of the latter party lost the Syndicate election. A Syndicate member pointed out that the Left camp’s lack of focus on the general constituency seats and poor coordination indirectly facilitated the win of the BJP candidate.