The Kerala Assembly witnessed unprecedented dramatic scenes on Wednesday, with opposition UDF members trying to prevent Governor Arif Mohammed Khan from entering the house to read his address to mark the commencement of the budget session.
The Governor could proceed to his dais only after the government got the watch and ward staff to bodily lift the protesting MLAs, who were shouting ‘Go Back’.
The UDF has accused the security staff of assault and complained to the Speaker, seeking punishment for those responsible.
Further drama was in store when the Governor started reading the text that, while approved by the ministry, has been a bone of contention between the Raj Bhavan and the Pinaryi Vijayan-led government.
As soon as he started reading his speech, the opposition members walked out in protest.
As Khan reached paragraph 18 of the speech, which was about the state government’s opposition to the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act, the Governor paused for a while to record his own difference of opinion with what was about to be stated and clarified that he was reading the original text in deference to the wishes of Chief Minister.
For, the run-up to the session opening day was marked by intrigue and suspense over whether the Governor would actually read the text containing the state government’s opposition to the citizenship laws.
There were four rounds of communication between the Governor and the Chief Minister over the issue, with Khan questioning the propriety of state assembly passing a resolution against the central law and then filing a suit in the Supreme Court challenging the law as ultra vires of the Constitution.
It was speculated that the Governor might omit reading the controversial para, as his predecessor P Sathasivam had done when the speech prepared for him contained negative remarks against the central government. Until the other day, Arif Mohammed Khan had insisted that the Governor’s address was supposed to talk about the policies and programmes of the government and not any ‘views’.
But on the day of reckoning, Khan surprised everyone by reading out the controversial reference. It seems that the issue was clinched by a fourth letter from the Chief Minister on Wednesday, which claimed that the Governor was duty-bound to read the text as approved by the Cabinet.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, however, described the development as a sign of the ‘under currents’ in the relations between the Modi government and the Chief Minister and described it as a quid pro quo by Khan for the Chief Minister ensuring his ‘safe passage’ to the Assembly. The treasury benches welcomed the Governor’s gesture with thumping of desks.
Chennithala even attributed the development to the SNC Lavalin case against the Chief Minister, that is pending hearing in the Supreme Court. A favourable decision by the court is crucial for Pinarayi Vijayan as the CBI has questioned the decision by the special court that ordered his discharge from the case citing a lack of evidence. The protracted case had kept Pinarayi Vijayan from power politics for over a decade and he became chief minister only after he was discharged from the case.
The opposition leaders claim that the Chief Minister has kneeled down before the Governor, who according to them had lowered the prestige of Kerala Assembly by belittling a resolution passed by the house.
The opposition claim seemed to have embarrassed the government, with ministers justifying the Governor’s action, saying he has acted as per the provisions of the Constitution and yet recorded his difference of opinion.
Law Minister A K Balan accused the opposition of trying to fish in troubled waters and create a constitutional crisis in the state by pitting the Governor and the government against each other.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had, in fact, given notice to the Speaker for a resolution asking for the recall of the Governor.
A thaw began to appear as the government, seeing through the opposition game, played safe and distanced itself from the move. Both the government and the opposition have claimed victory for the day’s events, with the government claiming success in getting the Governor around to its side and the opposition claiming that it has exposed the understanding between the NDA government at the Centre and the LDF government in the state, despite its strong opposition to CAA.
