Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan casts Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the centre of a government-sponsored plot to endanger him

Kerala Governor accuses Chief Minister of plotting to harm him and provoke a constitutional crisis.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Saturday, January 27, 2024, cast Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the centre of an alleged government-sponsored plot to harm him physically to precipitate a Constitutional crisis.

Ending his sit-in demonstration against a Students Federation of India (SFI) black flag protest at Nilamel in Kollam district, Mr Khan told reporters that the administration hoped to provoke him to resort to “drastic action” to hide their failure as a government.

He said the government wanted to escape responsibility for the State’s “self-inflicted financial crisis”. Mr Khan said the government had admitted in the Kerala High Court that the treasury was bone dry and the administration hard-pressed to honour its financial commitments, including to pensioners and lakhs of beneficiaries of monthly social welfare doleouts.

“The government wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis by engaging goons to target the governor by reining in the law enforcement. But, I am not going to oblige them (the government)“, Mr Khan said.

The Governor denied that his sit-in demonstration on the roadside was a protest against a party or government.

“Why should I protest when I can take direct action? I merely waited for the police to bring me a copy of the First Information Report to send the document to the secretary of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs”, Mr Khan said.

Mr. Khan said he had no issue with black flag protests. “However, I was constrained to step out of the vehicle when they (SFI) activists) ambushed my car. As head of State, I cannot tolerate lawlessness on the roads”, he said.