Two members of the Kathmandu University Vice-chancellor Search Committee have forwarded the names of five nominees asking Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to pick one for appointment as the VC.

Suresh Raj Sharma, former VC of the varsity, and Daman Nath Dhungana, chairman of the KU Board of Trustees, also warned the government not to flout their recommendations while appointing the top official.

The Senate meeting of the university had, in the first week of December, formed a three-member search committee headed by Education Minister Dhani Ram Poudel with Sharma and Dhungana as members to recommend VC candidates.

The committee had failed to recommend the names as Minister Poudel had been lobbying to appoint Janardan Lamichhane, the head of the Biotechnology Department, while the two members opposed it.

According to sources, those recommended for the position are Bhadra Man Tuladhar, Dr Ram Kantha Makaju, Man Prasad Wagle, Sita Ram Adhikari and Govinda Baidhya. Dr Makaju completed his four-year tenure as the KU vice-chancellor on December 12 while Tuladhar and Adhikari are former registrars. Wagle and Baidhya are senior professors at the university. Dr Makaju, Tuladhar and Wagle are said to be the members’ priorities.

PM Dahal, in his capacity as the chancellor, will appoint the new VC from among the three nominees.