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Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan arrive at the State Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram on January 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: S. Mahinsha
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has accused Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan of lowering the stature of his high office by delivering the government’s policy address for the next fiscal in “a perfunctory and brusque manner”.
After chairing a meeting of the party’s State secretariat at the AKG Centre here, CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan told reporters that Mr Khan accomplished his constitutional duty in the Assembly on January 25 in a cavalier and supercilious manner.
“Mr Khan had practically conveyed the essence of the government’s policy address by reading the paragraph that stressed cooperative federalism’s importance. However, the governor’s conduct in the House was desultory and unbefitting of his high office”, Mr Govindan said.
Mr Govindan denied that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had hoped for a detente with Mr Khan by muffling criticisms against the Governor’s contentious policy address delivery.
“We initially surmised that Mr Khan cut short the customary address possibly because he felt off-colour. However, the governor proved us wrong by delivering his Republic Day Speech and attending the parade in the capital on Friday”, Mr Govindan said.
Attacks against minorities
Mr Govindan said reports of communal violence were trickling in from different parts of India in the aftermath of the consecration of the Ram Temple built on the ruins of the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya.
He alleged that the Sangh Parivar was consciously abetting attacks on Muslims and Christians in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Karnataka and Telangana to vitiate the communal atmosphere and demonise minorities with an eye on galvanising Hindu majoritarian votes.
“There are recent reports of authorities in BJP-ruled States bulldozing the houses of minorities and encouraging Sangh Parivar elements to vandalise Churches and Mosques”, Mr Govindan said.
Corralling anti-BJP votes at the State level
He said the dire situation has underscored the dire need to corral the 63% anti-BJP votes to prevent a third consecutive National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.
The CPI(M) has urged INDIA Bloc to treat each State as a unit and support anti-BJP candidates irrespective of their political leanings or individual peculiarities. “The anti-BJP votes mustn’t get split between competing parties opposed to Sangh Parivar’s Hindu majoritarian and nationalist line”, Mr Govindan said.
He said NDA’s vote share was 37 per cent. It won by splitting anti-BJP votes by engineering divisions among regional parties opposed to the Sangh Parivar.
SC reins in ED and CBI
In a recent order, Mr Govindan said the Supreme Court had spotlighted the peril to federalism posed by Central agencies acting vindictively against officials and those holding elected office in non-BJP-ruled States at the Centre’s instance.
He said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) acted as the BJP’s cats’ paw in States ruled by opposition parties. Some State governments have retaliated by arresting ED officials for acting as overzealous foot soldiers of the Central government. Such wrangles jeopardised federalism.
Hence, Mr Govindan said, the Supreme Court has ordered a pan-India mechanism to examine whether political vendetta and arm-twisting informed ED and CBI raids against the political executive and bureaucracy in non-BJP-ruled States.
Mr Govindan noted that the SC has recommended enforcing checks and balances against arbitrary and vengeful raids and arrests by Central agencies.
He said opinion leaders, social influencers, writers, artists and political leaders from non-BJP ruled States would join Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s march to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to protest the Centre’s alleged trespasses on fiscal federalism on February 8.
“It is possible that Chief Ministers of other aggrieved non-BJP ruled States might join him”, Mr Govindan said.
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