Sawant had succeeded professor Furqan Qamar, who left the post after he was nominated as the V-C of Central University, Himachal Pradesh.
In what could prove to be a personal setback, AD Sawant, the man many believe has led the charge against Mumbai University’s V-C (Vice Chancellor) Rajan Welukar, was removed from the vice-chancellor’s post of the Rajasathan University late on Saturday after only a 10-month stint as the acting V-C. Professor BL Sharma has been appointed the new V-C.
Unconfirmed reports had suggested that Sawant, the acting V-C, was a strong contender for the post. Sawant had succeeded professor Furqan Qamar, who left the post after he was nominated as the V-C of Central University, Himachal Pradesh.
Sawant was appointed V-C on January 21, 2009, amid protests by university teachers against the then governor Prabha Rau for appointing an outsider. Despite such protests in the past, present governor Shivraj Patil — according to sources — was in favour of Sawant continuing as the V-C.
What then queered the pitch for him? When DNA called Sawant, he said he felt “hurt and let down”. But he seemed hesitant to analyse what went wrong. After some prodding, he said, “I am afraid I have become a victim of my battle for truth.”
After a pause, he added, “I will continue my fight against people fiddling with their documents just to usurp a post. It is my moral duty to continue with the fight.”
He said he was worried of such an outcome when he wrote to Maharashtra governor K Sankarnarayanan in July saying rules had been violated in the appointment of Welukar as the vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai.
In September, claiming that the search committee had favoured the candidature of Rajan Welukar for the V-C’s post, Sawant filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court seeking the quashing of Welukar’s appointment.
When DNA apprised Sawant of how his “battle” was being perceived as his frustration at not being made the V-C of Mumbai university, his voice rose. “This is mischievous slander! I was offered the confirmed post of the V-C for Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, by Shivraj Patil. Had I been so hungry for the post, wouldn’t I have lunged at the offer? I refused saying I should be allowed to continue the good work I have started after taking charge as the acting V-C.”
A source at Rajasthan University said that he had been able to get various agencies to agree to fund the varsity to a cumulative Rs60 crore. “He succeeded in getting financial assistance of Rs12 crore from the Centre for Development of Physics Education,” said a senior faculty who is known to be close to Sawant. “After six years, we had a peaceful student election. Sawant is known to be close to top Congress leaders. We are baffled by this sudden decision.”
A source in the Raj Bhavan at Jaipur, however, said, “There was a clamour for appointing a local person, which is why BL Sharma has been appointed. Surely Sawant, who comes from a state where the insistence on the sons-of-the-soil is always on top of any agenda, should understand this.”
Despite repeatedly trying, Welukar did not pick up his phone. A source close to him said, he is unlikely to say anything as his appointment is in court.
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