Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has welcomed Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s stance that “ordinance raj” is not acceptable.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was in a hurry to push through ordinances, including the Kerala Lokayukta (Amendment) Ordinance, to ensure that he did not lose power, he said. It is to prevent a backlash from his own case before the Lokayukta that the Chief Minister was trying to push through the ordinance in a hurry, thereby usurping the right of the Legislative Assembly.
Not just corruption issues, complaints on the partisan manner in which money from the relief fund was handled was also before the consideration of the Lokayukta. Mr. Vijayan was disregarding opposition from even the Left Democratic Front (LDF) constituents on renewing ordinances again because of this, Mr. Muraleedharan alleged.
He said the Governor, by refusing to sign the ordinances, had fulfilled his role as the guardian of the Constitution and had at the same time upheld the strong anti-corruption stance of the Modi government.
Mr. Vijayan, instead of trying to push through ordinances should show the courage to get the ordinances passed with the approval of the Assembly, Mr. Muraleedharan said.
He said the Centre would examine if there had been laxity or lacunae in the manner in which the upkeep and maintenance of national highways was being carried out. The failure to prevent roads from developing potholes should be examined . However, it was strange and pathetic that State Public Works Minister Mohamed Riyas seemed intent on categorising potholes on the roads as those belonging to the Centre or the State.
On the issue of the CPI(M) rebuking the Kozhikode Mayor for participating in a programme organised by Balagokulam, Mr. Muraleedharan said he was not sure if the controversy was over the Mayor participating in the programme or her garlanding a statue of Lord Sreekrishna.
Those who are very concerned about protecting the religious beliefs of communities should clarify what message they are conveying to society, when they take exception to the Mayor participating in a function related to Hindu community, he added.
