Embroiled in Gandhi row, Goa varsity official offers to quit

PANAJI - Goa University’s registrar Friday offered to resign after he was cornered by irate university students for allowing three political meetings of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on the varsity campus on Tuesday (Jan 19).

Mohan Sangodkar told reporters that he would be submitting his resignation to Goa Governor S.S. Sidhu, because he held himself responsible for the controversy.

“I consider myself responsible for allowing the political meetings on the university campus. I will be handing over my resignation to the governor, who is also the chancellor of the university,” Sangodkar said, after he was surrounded by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (AVBP) activists close to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The three meetings conducted by Rahul Gandhi Tuesday created much controversy in the state, with the opposition BJP demanding the registrar’s resignation for allowing these.

The Congress leader 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.

The varsity was under siege by members of the AVBP, which is close to the BJP before Gandhi’s visit over the same issue.

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