Nominees of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) have won eight of the 13 elected seats in the Syndicate of the University of Calicut. For the first time in history, a pro-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee too has been elected.
The 13 members are elected from among Senate members. The elections were held on June 8 (Saturday) morning and the final results were made available only late in the night. Those nominated by the United Democratic Front constituents, the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), won two seats each.
The LDF nominees are P.P. Sumod, MLA, P. Thajuddeen, (Kozhikode district president, Students Federation of India), K. Pradeep Kumar (All-Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association [AKPCTA]), P. Sushanth (Association of Kerala Government College Teachers), K. Mohammed Haneefa (Association of Calicut University Teachers), T. Mohammed Salim (AKPCTA), M.B. Faisal, CPI(M) leader from Malappuram, and E. Abdurahim (college manager category). The Congress nominees are T.J. Martin (Senate member nominated by the Chancellor) and P. Madhu (non-teaching staff category). IUML nominees are P. Rasheed Ahammad (Confederation of Kerala College Teachers) and C.P. Hamsa (college manager category). The pro-BJP nominee is A.K. Anuraj, Senate member nominated by the Chancellor, who is also a former journalist and director of Mahatma Gandhi College of Mass Communication, Kozhikode.
In the previous Syndicate, the LDF had 11 members and the IUML two. The Syndicate polls were held around a year after the culmination of the Senate elections in June 2023. Apart from the elected members there are ex-officio members as well six others nominated by the State government.