The Urdu University ordinance itself has passed into the President’s hands now but the hostility between Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Governor T.V. Rajeshwar that came with it shows no signs of abating.There is speculation that the Governor has submitted a petition on the law and order in the state to President Abdul Kalam during a meeting on Monday. He has met Yadav’s emissaries Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav as well. But, since then, the Governor has been meeting Union Ministers and Congress leaders in the Capital, bringing on allegations that he is playing partisan. The man in UP Sadan, however, is unfazed.‘‘The state government has met the President and the matter is in his office. The Urdu University ordinance issue is out of my hands now and is with the President of India. It is upto the President to.take an appropriate decision on the issue,’’ Rajeshwar said.The past few weeks have witnessed a war of nerves between the state government and the Governor on the issue of appointing state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan as pro-chancellor for life of the proposed university in Rampur. The Governor rejected the proposal, saying he objected to making a politician or minister rather than a scholar, chancellor for life.The rejection set off a chain reaction — the Chief Minister’s public outbursts against the Governor did not help the situation. ‘‘I took my decision after taking the merits of the case,’’ the Governor told The Indian Express.On Saturday, he met HRD Minister Arjun Singh; three days later, he met the Prime Minister, and today, he met Home Minister Shivraj Patil. SP leaders have charged him with being partial to the Congress and held that his rejection of the ordinance proves their point. Rajeswar dismisses the allegations: ‘‘If anybody is being touchy here, it is them.’’The SP went on to criticise the Governor’s haste in meeting agitating lawyers by rushing to the hospital after their encounter with state police. ‘‘The visit to the hospital was just normal courtesy. I even made an appeal to stop this agitation,’’ he countered. ‘‘It is a question of perception,’’ said Rajeswar. ‘‘I told the press in Lucknow that there was no friction between me and the CM. We keep in touch frequently.’’
