Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 9 (IANS): Top Ezhava Hindu leader Vellappally Natesan on Friday expressed his ire against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's government over the appointment of the first Vice Chancellor of the newly formed Sree Narayana Guru Open University.

Natesan and the community was peeved after a Muslim was appointed as the new VC, even when there were numerous well qualified people from his community.

Vijayan gave the nod for the appointment of Mubarak Pasha, who was a professor at a university in the Sultanate of Oman.

In Kerala, of the 50 per cent Hindu population, the Hindu Ezhava outnumber the Nair community and Natesan ever since Vijayan assumed office in 2016 had the best of the relations, but with this act, it appears the relation might turn sour.

Natesan expressed his ire while speaking to the media after he was re-elected as the general secretary of the powerful Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam.

"The Left government has poked the eyes of the believers of our community by not appointing someone who is well versed with the ideology of the Sree Narayana Guru.

"This was not expected from the Left, and this can be seen as an act of continuing the age old practice of keeping out the backward community from the crucial posts. Do not know why the State Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel did not appoint one of our people to the post," said Natesan.