A new university will be set up in Villupuram and it will start functioning from this academic year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Wednesday. He informed the assembly that it will be headquartered in Villupuram and will be created by bifurcating the Thiruvalluvar University based in Vellore. 

The new varsity will cover Villupuram, Kallakurichi and its neighbouring districts. The move to bifurcate and create a new university was opposed by Katpadi MLA and DMK senior leader S Durai Murugan, who protested the government's decision and questioned why the Thiruvalluvar University situated in his constituency had to be at the behest of bifurcation in order to create a new varsity. He also added that the ruling government in Tamil Nadu might have an ulterior motive behind such a decision which is currently unknown.

Thiruvalluvar University was set up by former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in 2002. It began functioning as the 'Post Graduate Extension Centre of the University of Madras', at the Fort Campus, Vellore. After bifurcation from the University of Madras, the varsity moved to a new campus at Serkadu, Vellore.