A heated argument broke out between the ruling and opposition members in the AP Legislative Council over the resignations of the Vice Chancellors of 17 universities in the state. YCP members went to the chairman’s podium and raised slogans demanding justice. On the other hand, the ruling members also stood up.
Education Minister Nara Lokesh said that the YCP members were trying to walk out of the house. The chairman adjourned the house for a while as both sides were shouting slogans. The chairman adjourned the house till tomorrow as the YCP members continued their agitation even after the house began.
It is known that on February 25, YCP member P Chandrasekhar Reddy had criticized the VCs in the Legislative Council for forcing them to resign. Minister Nara Lokesh said that if evidence is provided on this issue, an inquiry will be ordered.
Opposition Leader Botsa Satyanarayana brought this issue up for discussion in the council on Tuesday. Botsa, who said that he had brought evidence on the forced resignations, handed over some documents to the council chairman K. Moshe.
Minister Lokesh intervened and said that he also had the resignation letters of the VCs. He said that out of the total 17 VCs, 10 resigned due to personal reasons and without any reason. He said that two others resigned to give a free hand to the new government. He said that no one said that they were resigning out of fear.
Lokesh said that the appointment of VCs was carried out transparently after his government came to power. He said that when the previous YSRCP government came to power, the VCs of RGUKT Ramachandra Rao, Rayalaseema, Krishnadevaraya, Dravida and Venkateswara University also resigned in the same way.
He said that there was no mention of threats anywhere in the resignation letters. He said that false allegations of threats were made against them and that they were taking this seriously and demanded that a privilege committee be formed on this issue.
Botsa Satyanarayana said that the minister himself had said that he resigned on the orders of the Higher Education Council, so he demanded an inquiry into this issue. He also demanded an inquiry into the 2014-19 issues. Lokesh said that the chancellor of the universities is the governor, who approved the resignations.
The governor himself has appointed excellent VCs, will he also be questioned?, he asked. Lokesh read the news about the resignations of VCs in the newspapers and said that if the VCs resign in this context, what does it matter to him? He said that there is no mention of any threat in the letters. He demanded that this issue be proposed to the Privileges Committee.
YCP member P Chandrasekhar Reddy questioned how the officials of the Higher Education Council would give orders to resign if the governor makes appointments. Botsa Satyanarayana demanded that an inquiry be conducted into the resignations if the state government is sincere.
