Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on December 8 (Friday) that his government was not duty-bound to reply to all the petitions submitted before the Governor.
The government will respond only if “the Governor is convinced of the facts” mentioned in the petitions, he told a media conference held on the sidelines of the Navakerala Sadas public outreach programme.
The Chief Minister was responding queries about the response sought by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to a petition submitted before him by R.S. Sasikumar, chairman of the Save University Campaign Committee, requesting him to recommend the President to declare a financial emergency in Kerala in view of the current financial crisis.
Mr. Khan had forwarded the petition to the Chief Secretary seeking the government’s reply.
“Is this not the person (Sasikumar) who had filed cases against the government earlier?” asked Mr. Vijayan while reminding the Governor that forwarding such petitions to the government was not proper.
On the Kerala High Court’s decision to send notices to him and his daughter along with a few others in connection with the alleged pay-off by the Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) for undue favour, the Chief Minister said that “let it (notice) come.”
“You need not be unduly worried about the notice”, he told the mediaperson who sought his response.
To a query on the attack on mediapersons of a news portal by activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) at Paravur Kavala, near Aluva, on Thursday, Mr. Vijayan alleged that the media persons had purposefully created such a situation. “It cannot be called journalism,” he said.
On repeated queries, he responded by saying that the police can take action accordingly.
Centre blamed
The Chief Minister blamed the Centre for not allowing the State government to undertake loss-making Central public sector units which were brought under the ambit of disinvestment.
He said that about 12.5 lakh passengers had travelled in Kochi Water Metro since its launch seven months ago.
Mr. Vijayan also pointed out that the expansion projects by IT majors. including IBM and TCS. had resulted in increased employment opportunities in the State.
