Thaindian News

Panaji, Jan 23 (IANS) Goa Governor S.S. Sidhu has now intervened in the raging controversy involving Rahul Gandhi’s political meetings in the Goa university campus earlier this week.
A Raj Bhavan spokesperson Saturday said Sidhu, chancellor of the university, has sought a “factual report” from vice chancellor Dilip Deobagkar.

Sidhu’s intervention came a day after university registrar Mohan Sangodkar said he was responsible for allowing the All India Congress committee (AICC) general secretary to conduct three political meetings in the varsity campus Tuesday.

“The governor has taken note of the reports in the media about the Rahul Gandhi controversy. During a meeting with the VC (vice chancellor) held today (Saturday), his excellency has asked him to submit a factual report on Gandhi’s visit to the campus,” N. Radhakrishnan, special secretary to governor, told reporters in a statement.

The three meetings conducted by Rahul Gandhi Tuesday created much controversy in the state, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding the registrar’s resignation for allowing them to take place.

Rahul Gandhi addressed meetings of the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) on the campus and later of the Youth Congress members and state Congress unit officials.

Before Rahul Gandhi’s visit, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad — a students’ group close to the BJP — laid siege to the campus over the issue.

The university later claimed that Youth Congress office bearers had kept them in the dark about the political nature of Rahul Gandhi’s visit.