Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has called what he describes as a ‘tell-all’ press conference at 11.45 am this (Monday) morning, in which he has threatened to produce ‘evidence’ against the Left Democratic Front government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over various acts of malfeasance, allegedly aimed at denigrating his Constitutional position as head of the state.
Political observers describe the Governor’s move a rare occurrence, particularly when the purported intent is to put the elected State government in the dock over a series of contentious issues. The Governor has so far spoken impromptu to the press on various the issues, either at public functions, airports or on board an aircraft.
At flashpoint
The tit-for-tat spat over the last few weeks reached a flashpoint on Saturday when the Governor went to the extent of saying that the State government had directed the police to go slow on his complaint against a foiled ‘attack on life’ three years ago at a history conference in Kannur, the pocket-borough of the ruling CPM. When asked on Sunday whether he would raise a complaint with the Centre on the Left Front government’s acts of omission and commission, he replied ‘you will come to know on Monday.’
‘Cognisable offence’
Taking potshots at the Chief Minister who is in charge of the police portfolio, the Governor said ‘any attempt to interrupt, restrain, overawe or harm the President of the country or the Governor of a state is a cognisable offence under Section 124 of the Constitution.” He demanded to know whether a higher authority is preventing the police from proceeding with action or didn’t it amount to an act of favouritism. Worse, is not the person responsible for reining in the police in this manner also part of the conspiracy.
University appointments
The alleged attack on his life three years ago is the latest of a series of issues over which the Governor and Chief Minister have been at loggerheads for sometime now. The issues range from political to administrative, with appointments in universities in the state, of which the Governor is Chancellor, fueling a recent flare-up. The Governor has given vent in public to his strong views over alleged instances of nepotism and favouritism in these appointments, with the ruling Left Front coalition and its leaders responding in kind and accusing him of being a front-man for the BJP government at the Centre. Incidentally, the Governor met the visiting RSS sarsangchalak Mohan Bhagwat in Thrissur on Sunday.