Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who stepped down as chancellor of Nalanda University, Bihar in February, has blamed the Narendra Modi government for interference in academia and proclaimed to have been ‘ousted’ from the university.

Sen has candidly written about his exit from Nalanda University in a 4,000-word essay, which will be published in August issue of the New York Review of Books. Ahead of the publication of the essay, talking to an English daily,  Sen slammed the government for "extraordinarily large" interference in academia and said that Nalanda is a part of a wide ranging attempt by the Modi government by turning its formal role into a substantive one to seize direct control over academic institutions. He cited examples of resignation of the former head of NBT, writer Sethumadhavan, in favour of an RSS candidate, the Delhi IIT Director, Raghunath Shevgaonkar and the IIT Bombay Board chairman, Anil Kakodkar’s discontent over helping the government in future. Sen also expressed his worries about cut in budgets for health and education.

Amartya Sen has been trending on Twitter and attracting comments on Tuesday:

In 2013, Amartya Sen had criticized Modi, so him being sacked as Chancellor of Nalanda Univ is'nt surprising. The Witch hunting continues.

— Naqui (@naqui_s) July 7, 2015

Dear Amartya Sen, as an "expert" on economics, please explain what tangible returns did India get on 2400 Crore investment on Nalanda.

— Soora Samhaaram (@TheTandav) July 7, 2015

And that's what Lalit Modi lacked, him and Amartya Sen did more or less same thing but you see, who has won Nobel? ☺

— Mohit (@sailorsmoon) July 7, 2015

Amartya Sen is the more liberally accepted version of Arindam Chowdhary.

— Be'havin! (@WrongDoc) July 7, 2015

A thorough enquiry into the affairs of Nalanda Univ project during Amartya Sen's tenure as Chancellor will reveal how he ran it as a fief

— Dr. Anirban Ganguly (@anirbanganguly) July 7, 2015

Nobel Laureate #Amartya Sen targets Modi govt in @nybooks, says RSS taking over Indian academia. My intvu with him https://t.co/O4OIaLX5eE

— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) July 7, 2015

Amartya Sen calls for academic freedom. Freedom to make the ruins of Nalanda after thousands of crores gobbled up!

— हम भारत के लोग (@India_Policy) July 7, 2015