Patiala, Feb. 28 -- The academic council of the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL) has approved a proposal to drop former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's name from the institution and rename it "National Law University, Punjab," triggering a political row.

Though the decision was taken in December last year, it came into the public domain on Friday evening after Congress' Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi objected to the move and termed it a "deliberate attempt to polarise voters ahead of the Punjab assembly elections".

Vice-chancellor of the university Prof Jai Shankar Singh confirmed that the academic council had approved the proposal and forwarded it to the executive council for further necessary action. The executive counci...