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BJP slams Kerala government for criticising outgoing Governor
Khan, who took charge as the governor of Kerala on September 6, 2019, was appointed the governor of Bihar on Tuesday. Arlekar, the outgoing Bihar governor, will take Khan’s position in Kerala.
A day after President Droupadi Murmu replaced Kerala governor Arif Muhammad Khan with Rajendra Arlekar, the ruling CPI(M) and opposition BJP took contrasting positions on Khan’s five-year controversial tenure.
Khan, who took charge as the governor of the southern state on September 6, 2019, was appointed the governor of Bihar on Tuesday. Arlekar, the outgoing Bihar governor, will take Khan’s position in Kerala.
The CPI(M) on Wednesday said that it hoped that Arlekar would follow constitutional paradigms and work in collaboration with the state government unlike Khan who took a different route.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan told reporters, “Governor Khan in his tenure took wholly unconstitutional decisions. By delaying assent to Bills passed by the assembly and by ignoring the orders of the Supreme Court and sending those bills to the President, the governor’s actions were seen and reviewed by Kerala as unconstitutional.”
He said sections of the media attempted to whitewash the actions of the governor by portraying him as a highly respected figure with wide public approval. He accused governor Khan of implementing the agenda of the Sangh Parivar through unconstitutional actions.
At the same time, he said the party will not have pre-conceived notions about the new governor even though he is also a “BJP/RSS appointee”. “The new governor must work in collaboration with the state government and follow the constitutional ideals,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP state chief K Surendran praised governor Khan’s tenure and accused the state government of engaging in efforts to control universities and pass laws by turning the assembly into a mute spectator.
Responding to Govindan’s charges, Surendran said, “It’s the Pinarayi Vijayan government which has administered the state by subverting the Constitution and its principles. Governor Khan implemented his constitutional powers in order to counter chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was attempting to gain complete control over universities in the state.”
He further said: “The Supreme Court has made it clear that the chancellor is the final authority over the administration of universities. But CPM tried to insert political appointees in universities.”
“The other issue was that the government got a bill passed in the assembly to throttle the powers of the Lokayukta. The governor naturally withheld his assent to such bills that were passed by blowing away all constitutional principles. Therefore, it is easy to understand the anger of the CPI(M) towards governor Khan. Over the last five years, the CPM and the chief minister had to give answers to many questions,” he added.
