New Delhi, Aug 20 (India Today) : It's not clear how much Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi knows about the grand epic Mahabharata - he's an "expert without knowledge" after all, as Arun Jaitley said - but his decision to take on Gajendra 'Yudhisthira' Chauhan has certainly made things messy at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. Rahul's interference in the FTII tussle has scuttled the possibility of an amicable settlement of the two month-old students' protest, said top government sources.

The students have been protesting against the Union government's decision to appoint Chauhan as the chairman of FTII governing council. The Congress vice-president added a political colour by targeting the Modi government over Chauhan's appointment and blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for promoting "mediocrity" at premier institutes of the country. Since that interjection, the stalemate is not showing any sign of ending, and on Tuesday several FTII students had to be arrested.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry, meanwhile, has decided to engage in a series of discussions with FTII students to convey the government's message that it is willing to walk an extra mile to find solution to the two-month crisis at the institute. A three-member delegation will head to Pune to address the students' grievances and is likely to offer solutions such as induction of mentors into FTII from the film world to inspire them.

While Rahul possibly tried to earn a mileage by supporting a handful of FTII students, the government's efforts for a breakthrough suffered. In fact, the ministry of information and broadcasting was holding backchannel negotiations with the FTII students - who are protesting the appointment of TV actor Chauhan as head of the institute - through some wellknown Bollywood personalities, but a section of the students scuttled the move after Rahul Gandhi's entry on the scene.

"We were holding backchannel negotiations with the students through some credible Bollywood faces. Many students saw reason in ending the strike and going back to their classes," a top I&B ministry source, who did not wish to be named, told MAIL TODAY. "But Rahul Gandhi's entry gave the whole issue a political turn. Some students scuttled the negotiations as they want to show the government down," he said.

Rahul had attacked the RSS, alleging that it was systematically promoting "mediocrity" in various institutions. Rejecting Rahul's charge, the sources said the government was only trying to streamline the academic and financial management of FTII.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the two month-old tussle between the students and the government touched a low when the police arrested five of them, including female students, in a midnight swoop.

Following Rahul's visit to FTII, the students held a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar where the NSUI, the youth wing of the Congress, joined them. While JD(U) leader KC Tyagi and Congress lawmaker Raj Babbar joined the protest, later on CPI-M leader Mohammad Salim, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla, CPI leader D Raja and NCP leader DP Tripathi released a joint statement expressing their support to the FTII students.

FTII director Prashant Pathrabe hit back saying the students had gheraoed his office and mentally tortured him over the assessments of the 2008 batch, which is yet to complete the projects. Government sources said the students had been intimated about the coming assessments as early as April 2013 but they just want things to go on.

The sources also said besides delayed sessions of 2008 and 2009 batches, the institute hostels are being occupied by the students who want a status quo. This they said has not allowed the government to start the 2010 and 2014 courses. They also cited various reports questioning the financial management of the institute. "We want to make it to top 10 in the world. Things have to be streamlined," said a ministry official.