CPI(M) demands Kerala Governor’s resignation, warns of street protests

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan has demanded the resignation of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan has demanded the resignation of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.

He alleged Mr. Khan acted as an adversary of the people. Mr. Govindan said Mr. Khan subverted the Supreme Court order faulting the Governor for inordinately withholding assent to laws passed by the State legislature.

He accused Mr. Khan of “circumventing” the damning Supreme Court order by hastily reserving seven Bills for presidential consideration on the eve of the court’s judgment.

Mr. Govindan termed Mr. Khan’s “forestalling action” as “deviously anti-democratic and patently contemptuous” of the apex court. He also accused Mr. Khan of challenging the Supreme Court by claiming that only the President could hold Governors to account and that they had legal immunity.

Mr. Govindan argued that public resentment against Mr. Khan was brewing. He warned of mammoth agitations if Mr. Khan did not quit office. “Currently, the law sets no timeline for the Governor to sign Bills into law. Mr. Khan had exploited the loophole to veto laws passed by the State legislature. He had defeated the rights of the people,” Mr. Govindan alleged.

He said Kerala moved the Supreme Court to rectify the legal anomaly that gave latitude to Governors to avoid signing Bills for protracted periods.

Mr. Govindan accused Mr. Khan of acting as the Sangh Parivar’s catspaw. He said Mr. Khan conspired with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government to thwart the State’s plea against the Kerala Governor’s “disruptive approach to State legislations”.