category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh Akali Dal Monday accused Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of trying to defame former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal over the Panjab University issue claiming the dead leader once sought central university status for the state varsity. The opposition party s reaction came hours after Mann accused Badal of writing a letter in 2008 to Manmohan Singh, the then prime minister, seeking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for grant of central status to Panjab University. Mann on Monday also rejected a proposal of affiliation of Haryana colleges with PU, saying the Chandigarh-based university belongs to Punjab and will remain so. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema asked Mann not to weaken Punjab s case vis-a-vis PU by indulging in a defamation campaign against Badal and advised him instead to expose Haryana for its trying to capture the varsity through the back door. It is shocking that Mann has eroded the dignity of the high office he holds by indulging in a selective leak from a letter Parkash Singh Badal wrote to the Centre in 2008, Cheema said. Cheema said the 2008 letter was written following a demand from teachers and students of Panjab University who were agitating for an increase in the retirement age as well as increase in emolument for research scholars. He said that the erstwhile Punjab government had expressed it had no objection to the varsity being accorded central University status provided there is no change in university s name, nor will there be any tinkering with its statutory bodies the senate and syndicate-- or affiliation of Punjab colleges with the institution. Mann chose to ignore all these points while reading out the letter selectively to the media, said Cheema. He also said the chief minister failed to point out that Badal had clearly stated in the letter that the NOC should not deter the state from getting another central university and a world university. It was also condemnable that the chief minister did not disclose that the 2008 letter was withdrawn five days after it was written, he said. (editor dailyworld.in)