Amid the ongoing stand-off between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the LDF Government, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu seeking the immediate recall of the governor.
Pinarayi Vijayan, in his letter, alleged the governor was not discharging his constitutional duties. The chief minister also alleged that Governor Khan’s behaviour was not in accordance with the etiquette that should be followed by a governor and added that the Centre should examine this.
“His behaviour violates certain etiquettes to be followed by a governor. The Centre should examine this,” CM Vijayan said in his letter.
An extremely provocative atmosphere is being created, the governor is trying to destroy the peaceful atmosphere of Kerala, said the Chief Minister in his letter.
Chief Minister Vijayan had earlier said there was a situation where the Central government needed to be requested in writing to recall the governor and that he would consider the matter.
Chief Minister Vijayan and Governor Khan have been at loggerheads with each other since the latter accused the chief minister of ‘conspiring’ to hurt him physically. Governor Khan’s scathing accusation came after his vehicle was allegedly hit by activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI-M, while he was on his way to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to leave for Delhi.
A visibly furious governor got out of his car and told the media that it was Chief Minister Vijayan who ‘conspired’ to send people to hurt him physically.
Relations between Governor Khan and CM Vijayan plummeted to an antagonistic low, with Raj Bhavan breaking conventionalities and issuing a communique blaming the chief minister for the SFI banners allegedly defaming the Chancellor and stating that the circumstances signalled the beginning of the collapse of the Constitutional machinery in the state.
CM Vijayan responded by accusing Governor Khan of repeatedly breaking protocol, using harsh words to disparage the state, portraying protesting students as criminals and recurrently resorting to willfully provocative acts to vitiate Kerala’s peaceful atmosphere. The Chief Minister defended the SFI protests by pointing out that the posts of the Chancellor and Governor were not on the same Constitutional scale.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijayan on Thursday alleged that governor Khan is trying to precipitate a conflict in the state and said the student community maintained restraint and evaded his trap.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the Nava Kerala Sadas, CM Vijayan said the Governor used bad words against the student organization, but the students did not stoop to his level.
“The governor’s act shows that he’s involved in disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the state. He tried to ignite conflict. But the student’s community restrained themselves and hence the governor could not ignite a conflict of the level that he wants to see happen,” the CM said.