Thiruvananthapuram: The tussle between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the State Government likely intensified after the former's request to the Kerala University to bestow Doctor of Literature (D.Litt) degree to President of India Ram Nath Kovind was turned down allegedly under pressure from the political leadership.
Kerala University Vice-Chancellor Dr VP Mahadevan Pillai wrote to the Governor that the University Syndicate and the State Government were not interested in the Governor's proposal for granting D.Litt degree to the President.
In an apparent riposte, the Governor kept in abeyance the Sanskrit University's recommendation to grant D.Litt to three persons as wished by the State Government.
The Sanskrit University had earlier decided to bestow D.Litt degree on actress Shobana, musician Dr TM Krishna and its former Vice-Chancellor Dr NP Unny. The Governor, however, accepted the recommendation of the University Syndicate in this regard.
Hinting that all is not well, the Governor said, the other day, that a few decisions taken by the State Government hurt the prestige of the country.
The Governor had called the VC to Raj Bhavan and asked the latter to grant D.Litt degree to the President. It was also given in writing by the President. Earlier, the University had accorded D.Litt degree to KR Narayanan when he was the President.
The VC had communicated to the Syndicate members the directive of the Governor. It is understood that the VC and the Syndicate members interacted with the political executive. Later, the VC met the Governor in person and gave a letter expressing reluctance to grant D.Litt degree to the President.
It is said that the decision was taken without holding the Syndicate meeting. Had the Syndicate meeting held, the nine government representatives must have been required to express the government stand on the issue. In a likely bid to avoid such a situation, the Syndicate meeting was not convened. The Sanskrit University went ahead with its move to grant D.Litt degree to three persons during the same period.
