Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday said his government should not be blamed for the controversy over university appointments made by the governor, arguing that the process had begun under the previous LDF administration.

He claimed that the governor was acting on panels submitted before the change of government.

In a statement that could create a rift between Lok Bhavan and the Congress-led UDF government, Satheesan also said his administration would examine the appointments recently made by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in his capacity as Chancellor of the universities.

Responding to questions on allegations of saffronisation in university appointments and the governor’s intervention in higher education matters, Satheesan said such controversies were not new and had existed under previous governments as well.

He said the responsibility for submitting panels for appointments to university bodies rested with the previous government and noted that the appointments currently under scrutiny were made from those panels.

“Has this government started appointing people to universities only after we came to power? Who was supposed to submit the panel? It was the previous government that had to do that, wasn’t it? They submitted the panel, and appointments were made,” Satheesan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

“We will examine those appointments. This is not something new that suddenly emerged after our government assumed office, or that some special request was made to the governor,” he added.

He said the governor’s involvement in university affairs was not a recent development and predated the present administration.

He added that the government would conduct a comprehensive review of existing university procedures.

Former Higher Education Minister R Bindu sought to reject Satheesan’s argument and accused him of attempting to shift responsibility to the previous government.

“What he has said is a very irresponsible statement. In fact, the protocol had already come into force by the end of February under the previous government,” Bindu told reporters.

“To claim that nominations made a month after the new government assumed office are somehow part of the decisions of the previous government is, in my view, a completely baseless and undignified argument,” she added.