On Sunday (24th March), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced Dr. TN Sarasu as the party candidate from the Alathur constituency ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections in Kerala. Dr. TN Sarasu, the former principal of Government Victoria College in Pallakad, is well-known for her considerable contributions to the institution during her tenure.
Ramya Haridas, a sitting MP and UDF candidate, and K Radhakrishnan, the Kerala state Devaswom Minister and LDF candidate, are her opponents in the triangular fight.
— Dr. Mahendra Singh (Modi ka Parivar) (@bjpdrmahendra) March 24, 2024
Dr. TN Sarasu, who served as Principal of the Government Victoria campus in Pallakad, has received numerous threats from SFI officials within the campus for her efforts to build an educational environment in the past. These threats are said to have arisen from her efforts to foster a respectable academic environment, which were challenged and undermined by the SFI.
According to several students and professors, TN Sarasu, who loved the institution like it was her own home and cared for the students like they were her own children, worked diligently to maintain academic discipline. Her efforts however earned her the ire of SFI leaders.
In the year 2016, the prestigious 127-year-old Government Victoria College attracted massive controversy after the Indian left-wing student organization, SFI, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) prepared a symbolic grave for Dr. Sarasu as a gift of retirement for her.
Following a complaint from the Principal, Dr. TN Sarasu, who retired on 31st March that year after serving for almost three decades, police filed complaints under various sections of the IPC against some SFI students. Sarasu said that the students acted at the behest of “some members” of the All Kerala Government College Teachers Union, which is affiliated with the left.
On her last working day, the SFI and other left-wing people burst crackers in celebration. “The organised unions were doing this in many institutions in Kerala. But I didn’t expect them to stoop to this level. I enforced some discipline to ensure smooth academic activities. I prevented the SFI activists from accommodating outsiders in hostels inconveniencing residents. They were targeting me ever since I started disciplining the campus,” Tarasu was quoted as saying.
Sarasu’s complaint to the police named at least eight SFI students who prepared the symbolic grave inside the college grounds, strewn it with flowers, and placed a wreath around it.
The said incident was massively criticised by the BJP who slammed the SFI leaders for insulting Sarasu. Later in the year 2019, Sarasu joined the BJP.
