The Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislators on Monday lambasted Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in strong terms for his alleged disrespect to the Kerala Legislative Assembly by wrapping up his policy address in less than two minutes, and staging an impromptu sit-in at a teashop at Nilamel in Kollam following a protest by the Students Federation of India (SFI).
The MLAs, while taking part in the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s address in the Assembly, minced no words in flaying the Governor.
K.K. Shailaja of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] likened the episode at Nilamel to the performance of the popular character Keeleri Achu donned by the late comedian Mamukkoya in the 1991 comedy Kankettu. “The Governor’s performance brought the image of the accidental rowdy character, which is a popular meme character on social media, to my mind,” she said, stopping short of naming the character.
K.P. Kunhammed Kutty, also of the CPI(M), termed the Governor’s action in the Assembly as an act of ingratitude by him to the Assembly and people of the State. Mentioning the recent incidents of Governors being used as tools of the Centre to meddle with governance in non-BJP-ruled States, E. Chandrasekharan of the Communist Party of India (CPI) stressed the need for amending the Constitution to abolish the post of the Governor.
The discussion, conspicuous by the absence of the United Democratic Front legislators who boycotted the session in protest against the undue delay in disbursal of social security pension was also critical of the stance of the Opposition on the issue.
The Opposition had shown their true colours by not taking part in the discussion which they could have effectively used to register their displeasure over the acts of the Governor, said Mathew T. Thomas of the Janata Dal (S) [JD(S)]. They also had the responsibility to clarify their stance on the reported withdrawal of the Opposition from the protest planned by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the elected representatives from the State in New Delhi on February 8 to highlight the Centre’s financial embargo on States, he said.
