Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal.Since his appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Health Sciences in 2019, Kunnummal has found himself at the centre of recurring tensions between the Governor’s office and the state government.Updated: August 25, 2026 01:13 AM IST“Are you cockroaches or lions?” Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal repeatedly asked students during a recent award ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram.When a video of students sitting unresponsive went viral, it added a new episode to the growing controversies around Kunnummal, who has found himself at the centre of recurring tensions between the Governor’s office and Kerala government, of the Left and now the Congress, over the last few years.A medical professional specialising in radio-diagnosis for the last three decades, Kunnummal, who is also the V-C of the University of Kerala, on August 22 alleged that “foreign forces” were trying to convert young people to cockroaches.This cockroach controversy came close on the heels of Kunnummal’s remark on Vande Mataram at an RSS Sankalp youth summit on Independence Day. Reacting to the Congress-led government’s decision to skip the recital of Vande Mataram at Kerala’s official Independence Day events, Kunnummal said, “When we pray, we say Vande Mataram. It is our mother and those who oppose Vande Mataram do not know who their mother is.”A controversial figureOver the years, both the CPI(M) and Congress have challenged Kunnummal’s appointments – first as the V-C of KUHS in 2019 and then the additional charge as the V-C of the University of Kerala in 2023 – as part of the Governor’s “saffronisation of higher education” in Kerala.In October 2019, then Governor Arif Mohammed Khan picked Kunnummal as the V-C of KUHS, allegedly overlooking the recommendations of a search committee formed by the then Left government. After then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assumed office for the Left government’s second consecutive term in 2021, the higher education sector has been marked by repeated tussles between the Governor and the state government.The first battle ground was the University of Kerala in 2022, when Khan formed a search committee for a new V-C as the incumbent Dr Mahadevan Pillai’s tenure was coming to an end. The University Senate, dominated by CPI(M) members, did not name its nominee to the search committee in protest against the Governor’s earlier action. Khan then gave Kunnummal the additional charge as the V-C of the University of Kerala.Story continues below this adIn 2024, when his five-year tenure as V-C of KUHS was to end, Kunnummal was reappointed for another term by Khan – until then, it had been unusual in Kerala to reappoint a V-C. The only precedent came in 2021, when Kannur University V-C Dr Gopinath Ravindran was given another term by Khan, who claimed he had acted at the behest of the CPI(M) government. In 2023, the Supreme Court quashed Ravindra’s reappointment.As the power struggle between the government and Khan continued over the University of Kerala, Kunnummal as the acting V-C got involved in nominations for the University Senate with Khan’s backing. In 2024, Khan extended Kunnummal’s tenure as V-C “till a permanent V-C was appointed” at the University of Kerala. When the CPI(M) members in the Senate legally challenged the decision, the Kerala High Court upheld the Governor’s move, which led to Kunnummal’s continuation as the V-C.After Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar replaced Khan as the Kerala Governor in January 2025, Kunnmmal had drawn the ire of the Left government over a portrait of Bharat Mata with a saffron flag at a function attended by Alrekar.On June 25, 2025, socio-cultural outfit Sree Padmanabha Seva Samithi marked 50 years since the Emergency with an event at the University of Kerala attended by Arlekar. University registrar Anil Kumar, who had ordered the cancellation of the programme over a Bharat Mata portrait displayed at a university hall, was suspended by Kunnumal. The incident had sparked protests with the Left alleging that Kunnummal was “proving his loyalty to the RSS”.Story continues below this adThings have not changed much since the Congress-led UDF came to power in May this year. In June, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat addressed a lecture series in Thiruvananthapuram titled “100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons”. The event was attended not only by Kunnummal, but also by two other vice-chancellors — MG University V-C in-charge Dr D Mavoothu and Malayalam University V-C in-charge Dr C R Prasad. Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the attendance of the three V-Cs at Bhagwat’s event was a “serious lapse” and was not in tune with the state’s educational tradition and the dignity of the V-C’s post. However, months later, Kunnumal was in attendance at another RSS event on Independence Day.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:KeralaKerala University