Visva-Bharati’s plan to hold an online lecture on May 18 to delve into the reasons for the BJP’s electoral debacle in Bengal had to be cancelled within 12 hours of its announcement on Tuesday following protests from various quarters, including Prime Minister and chancellor Narendra Modi’s nominee in the university’s executive council.

Sources said Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty had taken the initiative to hold an online lecture to analyse “Why BJP failed to win West Bengal Assembly Election?”.

An invitation letter for the open-to-all online lecture was uploaded on the varsity’s website late on Tuesday. The invitation stated that joint advisor to Niti Ayog, Sanjay Kumar, would speak on the topic on an online platform at 4pm on May 18. Varsity insiders said the VC had picked Kumar as the speaker because of his proximity to the BJP.

However, the varsity’s initiative ran into protests.

“Visva-Bharati is not a place to analyse reasons for the BJP’s failure in the Assembly polls at a time we are struggling to combat the pandemic. The VC should organise a lecture on how the varsity can help the society and its students and teachers in the time of the pandemic. I strongly protested (the move) as it is not expected of the varsity to discuss the defeat of the BJP,” said Dulal Chandra Ghosh, who is the nominee of Modi.

A source said Ghosh had complained about the lecture to top BJP leaders in Delhi and conveyed to them that the event would further tarnish the party’s image.

The source added the protests and Ghosh taking up the matter with the BJP top brass had forced the varsity on the backfoot. On Wednesday evening, the varsity uploaded a notice on its website stating that the lecture had been cancelled for the “time being” because of “some unavoidable circumstances”.

“After objections from several BJP leaders and protests in social media, the VC was forced to cancel the event. The pressure was such that the invitation letter and the cancellation notice had to be taken down from the varsity’s website later in the evening,” said a varsity official.

Reacting to the cancellation of the lecture, Ghosh said: “Organising such an event is unethical. But the effort will also malign the institution headed by our Prime Minister. It is good that the VC finally understood it and cancelled the event.”

Sources said this was not the first time Chakrabarty was trying to push the saffron agenda. The VC had come under attack in the past for organising a pro-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) event on the campus. A varsity professor said like in the past, the May 18 event was part of his effort to prove his inclination towards the BJP.

The varsity’s officiating public relations officer, Anirban Sircar, did not take calls from this correspondent. Nor did he reply to text message.

Chandranath Sinha, the minister and Bolpur MLA, said: “The lecture plan again proved that the VC is a BJP man.”

Controversy has become part of Chakrabarty’s tenure and a varsity teacher said the VC had become an issue in the recent Assembly polls with the Trinamul Congress campaigning against his unpopular decisions like stopping traditional events like Basanta Utsav and Pous Mela.

A section of BJP leaders said one of the reasons behind the defeat of BJP candidate Anirban Ganguly was Chakrabarty’s lack of popularity among local residents.

Ganguly had also protested against Chakrabarty’s activities and claimed that he had lodged a complaint against him in Delhi for his anti-people policies.

The image of the VC was further dented when chief minister Mamata Banerjee referred to him as the BJP’s man during the poll campaign.

At a meeting in Bolpur last December, Mamata said: “I don’t have any individual grudge or grievances against the VC. Didn’t they find anyone else for the post of the VC? They had to get someone who has a stamp of the BJP. What do BJP leaders do inside the chamber of the VC every day? What do they do inside Visva-Bharati?”