CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister and Pro-Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) K Ponmudy did not attend the institution's 14th convocation on Wednesday.
The invitation for the event mentioned the minister's name along with the Governor’s as those expected to be in attendance.
Sources said that the minister has decided to boycott the event to show his opposition to Governor RN Ravi. However, there has not been any official statement on this so far.
The minister had also boycotted the convocation of Madurai Kamaraj University on November 2 after the Governor had refused to sign the documents to confer an honorary doctorate on freedom fighter and veteran CPM leader N Sankaraiah.
Earlier, Ponmudy had accused the Governor of sitting on several documents sent by the government for approval, explaining why the Tamil Nadu government had to approach the Supreme Court.
A total of 9,776 graduates were conferred with degrees by Governor RN Ravi in the 14th convocation of Tamil Nadu Open University on Wednesday.
Ashutosh Sharma, President of Indian National Science Academy (NISA) and former secretary to the central government, department of Science and Technology, delivered the convocation address.