Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 30: A controversy swirling around a law college principal, who is also a celebrity chef, with familial links to the ruling CPM has become the "flavour of the season" in Kerala.

An agitation by students demanding the resignation of Lakshmi Nair, the principal of the Kerala Law Academy Law College, has snowballed into a political controversy that has left the CPM squirming and posing a crisis of credibility for the ruling Left Democratic Front.

The protests have so far failed to deter Lakshmi Nair, who heads the state's first private law college founded by her father N. Narayanan Nair in 1968. The patriarch's brother Koliyakkode Krishnan Nair is a member of the CPM state committee, the reason the protests against the college authorities have assumed political overtones.

Lakshmi Nair, who also hosts a popular cookery show on CPM-backed channel Kairali TV, has rejected demands for resignation, saying it was not a government college and hinted that if matters became too hot, she will approach the court.

The flood of allegations against her and the college ranges from land grab to harassment of students. The protesters claim that the principal and the management run the college like their private fief.

A section of the students allege lack of transparency in the admission process and say that those not in the management's good books are denied marks during the internal assessment. There have also been reports that records on the law college's affiliation have disappeared from the archives of Kerala University, under which the Law Academy falls.

The principal and the college management have dismissed the charges as motivated and wondered why there were no such complaints against them in the past.

Their detractors say allegations had been levelled against the college management in the past too, but the protests were often gagged using influence. The college alumni include scores of politicians who gained admission and pass marks because of the generosity of the college authorities and as such, protests against the management often fizzle out for lack of political support, the students point out.

The ongoing protests against the college erupted in the aftermath of the death of a student in a privately administered engineering college in Thrissur district earlier this month. Jishnu Pranoy, a computer science student at the Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, was found hanging in his hostel room, prompting allegations that he took the extreme step unable to stand the harassment by the college authorities.

The incident triggered outrage across the state, forcing media attention on the condition of students in self-financing colleges. What came out were distressing tales of victimisation of students in the cover of education. Several public figures, including chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan lamented that education had become merely a business for many in the state.

Outfits like the CPM-backed Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Federation (AISF) of the CPI, RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Kerala Students Union (KSU) of the Congress seized on the opportunity and launched protests against colleges accused of harassing and victimising students.

In the Law Academy however, the Left student organisations are having a tough time explaining the relationship between the CPM and the college management.

The BJP was quick to realise this and descended on the scene in no time. Initially, the BJP announced a 48-hour fast by its former state president V. Muraleedharan to express solidarity with the students. Two days later, the party decided to extend the fast indefinitely, giving a fillip to the protests.

The agitation has also brought back to the fore the factional differences in the CPM. Among those who called on the agitating students was CPM leader and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan. The senior leader demanded that the government take over the excess land in possession of the college.

The demand was music to the ears of the agitating students but not for the CPM. Krishnan Nair lives in a house in the property allotted to the college and the CPM realises that allegations of land misuse by the college are also bound to reflect on the state committee member. But VS couldn't have cared less, given that the former MLA is his known detractor.

The CPM's unease became more evident when the party's state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters after visiting the agitating SFI activists that it was an issue between the students and the management and that party had nothing to do with it.

Contradicting VS, the state secretary also said that land issue was not part of the demand of the agitating students. Balakrishnan's statement has already invited charges that the CPM was trying to play down the protests.

As the stalemate continues, the syndicate of the Kerala University debarred Lakshmi Nair from exam-related activities for five years. The action follows a report of a syndicate sub-committee that reportedly found substance in the allegations levelled by the students against the principal.