New Delhi: Known for his strong RSS links, the chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical Research Y. Sudershan Rao is emerging as the frontrunner for the post of chancellor of the Nalanda University.

Others who held the position included Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and former foreign affairs minister of Singapore George Yeo. Both Dr Sen and Mr Yeo had quit citing “government interference”.

For the post of vice-chancellor, sources said that the names of three candidates were doing the rounds. These include Prof. Sunaina Singh, vice-chancellor of English and Foreign Languages University, (EFLU), Makrand Paranjape, professor at JNU and art historian Nirmala Sharma. The ministry of external affairs has received over 160 applications for the post of the vice-chancellor.

Sources revealed that a move is afoot to appoint Prof. Rao as the new Nalanda University chancellor. However, when contacted, the ICHR chairperson neither confirmed nor denied the development. His brief response was, “Let us wait please...let it come officially.” The announcement is likely to be made in January.

It may be recalled that Prof. Rao’s appointment by the Modi government to head ICHR in July 2014 had led to a controversy with eminent historians including Romila Thapar raising questions.

Romila Thapar had written: One is surprised at the appointment of Professor Y. Sudershan Rao as chairperson of the ICHR. Professor Rao’s work is unfamiliar to most historians, with little visibility of research that he might have carried out.”

In another article, she also wrote that while Prof. Rao has “published popular articles on the historicity of the Indian epics, none has appeared in any peer-reviewed journal”.