Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan were at loggerheads on Wednesday, 23 December, over the latter denying permission for a Special Assembly meeting to discuss the recently passed farm laws by the Centre.
Amid an exchange of letters between the two over the matter, the BJP and the CPI(M) leaders too exchanged barbs, as several BJP leaders called Vijayan’s demand a ‘political stunt’.
CM Slams Governor for ‘Unconstitutional Move’
Calling the governor’s move ‘unconstitutional’, Vijayan said that the “governor has no power to reject the recommendation of the government having a clear majority in the Assembly,” reported Times Now.
Kerala agricultural Minister VS Sunil Kumar called the governor’s decision ‘undemocratic’.
According to FirstPost, Ramesh Chennithala from Congress remarked that the Governor’s move was unfortunate and against ‘democratic values’.
Governor Writes To Vijayan
In response to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s letter criticising the Governor’s decision to refuse on Tuesday night, the Governor wrote a letter back to the CM on Wednesday, 23 December.
In the letter, published by Times of India, the Governor addressed that the CM “didn’t address the question relating to the nature of the emergency which necessitated to summon an emergent session of the Assembly.”
The Governor pointed out that Vijayan “opened up partially” in response to his decision to decline the session. The Governor reiterated that the CM “wanted the special Session to discuss a problem for which he has no jurisdiction to offer any solution.”
The Assembly session was scheduled to take place on 8 January even as Vijayan requested for an emergency session.
Khan slammed Vijayan for “taking shelter behind vague terms like the current case, to discuss some serious issues” and said it was the constitutional duty of the CM to keep the Governor abreast with the decisions of the government.
He also slammed Vijayan for leaking the confidential correspondence between them to the media.
BJP Welcomes Governor’s Move
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V Muraleedharan welcomed the Governor’s move, alleging the call for a special Assembly session was a ‘cheap political stunt’ by the CM and the CPI(M).
“We welcome the Governor's decision to not let the floor of Kerala Assembly be used for a cheap political stunt by CPI(M) Kerala and Pinarayi Vijayan. A motivated move by the Kerala government to subvert the Constitution averted for good,” he was quoted by Times Now as saying.
The session was called to discuss and pass a resolution against the three farm laws over which farmers have been protesting near Delhi.
The CM and the majority of the Kerala government had planned to reject the farm laws in the state with a motion in the special Assembly session that was supposed to be held on Wednesday, 23 December.
(With inputs from Times Now, PTI, Firstpost and NDTV)
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