Did CM Satheesan convincingly deflect charges of saffronisation and BJP deal?

'Saffronisation of higher education' and 'secret dalliance with the BJP' were the two charges Chief Minister V D Satheesan had to grapple with during his post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday.

The other day CPM state secretary M V Govindan had alleged that the V D Satheesan government had appointed a "Sangh Parivar man" as the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. 

The reference was to Governor Rajendra Arlekar's appointment of Mavoothu Duraipandi as the VC in charge of MG University on June 1. Duraipandi was professor and former Director, School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).

It was also alleged that at least 15 of the 30 Senate members nominated have Sangh Parivar connections. 

The CM did not refute the alleged RSS inclinations of the new appointees. Instead, he said these appointments were merely a continuation of the Governor's actions during the LDF tenure. "It is now made out as if the Governor had launched his saffronisation agenda right after we came to power. VCs and countless Syndicate members were appointed in various universities during the LDF's term. So this is not a new thing," the CM said.

He said the process for the selection of the MG University VC had started before the UDF came to power. "The (search) panel for the selection of VC should have been provided by the former government. But they did not," the CM said. 

The CM said that though the appointments had been made, the UDF government would scrutinise them. "We will do all that is legally possible," he said. 

The appointment of B Ashok as the Higher Education principal secretary was also cited by the CPM as proof of the UDF's willingness to let the Sangh Parivar saffronise higher education. 

The CPM allegation is that the revocation of Ashok's suspension and his reinduction into a high administrative post were done as part of Satheesan's 'secret pact' with the RSS. Frequent transfers had put Ashok in perennial confrontation mode with the previous LDF government. Eventually, he was suspended. While in suspension, Ashok criticised the previous LDF government and its Chief Minister with a ruthlessness unheard of in civil service. 

Ashok had been marked as pro-BJP since 2013, when he had written an opinion piece in a vernacular dismissing the CPM's objections to Narendra Modi's visit to Sivagiri Mutt that year. Modi was then Gujarat Chief Minister and Ashok, the VC of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. The then Oommen Chandy government had initiated disciplinary proceedings against Ashok.

Chief Minister Satheesan played down Ashok's perceived political leanings. "Do we ever look for the political background of our IAS officers," he said. Moreover, he implied that the government did not have the space to worry about political inclinations of officers when there was a severe shortage of IAS officers in Kerala.

"Their number is very low in Kerala. Even those who have gone on compulsory central deputation are reluctant to return. And the government is forced to impose additional charge of various other departments on existing officers," the CM said.

The CM, however, refuted the CPM charge that his government had already accepted the conditions of the PM-SHRI scheme. While in opposition, the UDF had criticised the Pinarayi government for signing on the PM-SHRI project.

Not just PM-SHRI, the CM said the government was yet to take a final call on the Centre's Labour Codes, and PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana). "We will soon come to a decision on all of these," the CM said.

The CM then suggested that it was the LDF government's hypocrisy it had criticised than the act of signing on to the central scheme. He said the UDF had opposed the PM-SHRI MoU because the government had signed on the dotted line "one fine morning" after putting up a grand show of resistance all along.

"A government that had ad nauseum stated that it would never sign the PM-SHRI agreement went ahead and signed the deal without the approval of the Cabinet. And at a subsequent Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister and the education minister kept silent when the CPI ministers kept insisting that Kerala should not be a signatory to the PM-SHRI project," Satheesan said.

He said that it would not be easy for his government to back out of PM-SHRI. "They (LDF government) have signed on the MoU. Government of Kerala was the signatory. This government is a continuation. The people have changed but it is still the Government of Kerala. The state has certain legal obligations. We need to examine the issue carefully before taking a decision," the CM said.

All these issues he tackled with characteristic assurance but there was one that made him visibly uncomfortable.

The CM was told that the CPM had been repeatedly saying that the CM was refusing to respond to the allegation that he had a secret meeting with an Adani representative at the house of the leader of an NDA ally.

"I have no intention to respond. Why should I," he said. "What is my connection to Adani? Let Govindan Mash say whatever he wants," he said.

When he was pressed further, he said, "Do you want to see the photographs of the people I saw? I went to see a person who has deep connections in Kerala. He is a distant relative of Aryadan Sir (Congress leader Aryadan Mohammad). I met him at the airport. And why would I meet an Adani representative after the elections? To discuss government formation? What are these people trying to say?" he said with utter disdain.

It is said that you had flown in a chartered flight, he was asked. "Those are personal matters and you don't have to interfere," the CM said dismissively.