The spouse of the Aligarh Muslim University’s acting Vice-Chancellor has made it to the final three candidates for the VC position, following a meeting chaired by her husband at the AMU’s governing body on Monday.

Naima Khatoon, the Principal of AMU’s Women’s College and wife of Acting VC Mohammad Gulrez, received 50 votes from the AMU Court members, placing her among the shortlisted candidates. Alongside her, M Uruj Rabbani and Faizan Mustafa secured 61 and 53 votes, respectively.

Last week, a meeting chaired by Acting VC Gulrez finalized a list of five candidates to be sent to the AMU Court, and on Monday, the governing body trimmed it down to three, eliminating the names of Furqan Qamar and Qayyum Hussain.

The final three candidates will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu, the university’s Visitor, who will choose the new AMU VC.

During the meeting, Rabbani received the highest votes (61), followed by Mustafa (53), and Khatoon (50), according to Gulrez.

If selected, Khatoon would be the first woman to hold the position of Vice-Chancellor at AMU.

Some members of the Executive Council previously raised objections to Gulrez chairing the meeting, which were dismissed. The University spokesperson clarified that there is no conflict of interest as per the law, stating that the spouse of a VC is legally allowed to participate in the voting process, according to the Department of Higher Education and the AMU ordinance (Executive).