Disquiet in NDA over UGC draft rules: JD(U) flags row; TDP, LJP(RV) guarded

Sources in the JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said the party would take up the matter with the BJP-led NDA government once it goes through the draft thoroughly.

Speaking to The Indian Express, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, “Every political party has a roadmap. Higher education is an important part of that. By limiting the role of elected governments in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors, the efforts of the state government in the field of education will be discouraged to a great extent. We have not read the draft of the UGC regulations, but the things that are coming out in the media show that some amendments to that may be needed.”

In a statement issued later in the day, Prasad claimed that this was his “personal opinion”.

There also seems to be unease in another crucial NDA ally TDP over the UGC’s proposals, even as the party struck a cautious note. “We have seen the draft UGC rules but as our top leadership is in Davos for the WEF (World Economic Forum), there have been no internal discussions on it. However, if we have any reservations, we will not raise them publicly and will rather communicate them to the people concerned internally. We do not wish to politicise this issue,” TDP national spokesperson Deepak Reddy told The Indian Express.

Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu along with his son and minister Nara Lokesh are currently visiting Davos to take part in the WEF events.

Another NDA ally LJP (Ram Vilas) was also guarded in its response to the row, suggesting that the issue should be discussed in Parliament. “It’s a constitutional mandate (the position of a Chancellor) in favour of the Governor. It is the prerogative of Parliament to deliberate upon it,” LJP (RV) national vice-president A K Bajpai told The Indian Express.

Several Opposition-ruled states have opposed the draft UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, that propose to give the Chancellors a broader powers in appointing the V-Cs in the state universities. The Opposition camp has alleged that these rules would undermine the constitutional principle of federalism besides damaging the interest of the state’s higher education sector.

On Tuesday, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution, urging the BJP-led Central government to immediately withdraw the draft UGC regulations. CPM stalwart and CM Pinarayi Vijayan has attacked the draft for seeking to “abolish” the rights of states in higher education. It was a continuation of the “commercialisation, communalisation and centralisation policies imposed by the UGC and the Central government”, he alleged.

In Kerala, both the CPM and the principal Opposition Congress have been up in arms against the draft UGC rules, alleging that it was part of a Sangh Parivar agenda to control the higher education sector.

Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu Assembly had also unanimously passed a resolution against the draft, urging the Centre to roll it back. The resolution, moved by DMK president and CM M K Stalin, charged that the UGC’s move was against federalism and the interest of the state.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister Govi Chezian called the draft UGC rules “dictatorial”, asserting that if the Centre does not withdraw it, the DMK would take “legal recourse” and hold “people’s protests” over the issue.