Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday accused Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar of not reading out the state cabinet approved policy address in its entirety, saying the Governor had omitted portions of the document while delivering the address in the Assembly.
After Arlekar concluded the speech and left the House, Vijayan informed the Assembly that the Governor had not read out the beginning of paragraph 12 and the ending of paragraph 15 of the policy address.
One of the portions avoided by the Governor was, "Despite these social and institutional achievements, Kerala continues to face severe fiscal stress arising from a series of adverse Union Government actions that undermine the constitutional principles of fiscal federalism."
The other omitted section read, "Bills passed by State legislatures have remained pending for prolonged periods. My Government has approached the Supreme Court on these issues, which have been referred to a Constitution Bench," the chief minister pointed out.
Vijayan urged the Speaker that the policy address approved by the state cabinet should be acknowledged as the official version.
Speaker A N Shamseer said that avoiding or adding portions to the cabinet approved address is not officially recognised as per past precedents of the House and the same would apply this time as well.
The developments in Kerala came on a day when a similar confrontation unfolded in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi walked out of the Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House in its maiden session of the year, alleging, among others, "inaccuracies" in the DMK government's prepared text.
Chief minister M K Stalin slammed the Governor for "walking out in violation of tradition and ethos," and later piloted a resolution stating that the English version of the address was assumed to have been read.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore said the state would not accept the erosion of its democratic institutions and accused the Governor of misusing a constitutional office.
"Why does Governor Ravi repeatedly refuse to follow the Constitution of India? Once again, he has acted in a manner that undermines and insults the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly -- a democratically elected body of the people," Tagore said in a social media post in Tamil.
He said the Constitution is clear that the Governor is a constitutional head, not a parallel authority.
"He (the governor) must act on the aid and advice of the elected state government (Article 163). Reading out personal opinions, selectively altering the Assembly address, or withholding assent indefinitely is not constitutional discretion - it is constitutional defiance," Tagore said.
Noting that the Tamil Nadu Assembly represents millions of people, the Congress leader said, "disrespecting the House is not disrespecting a party - it is disrespecting democracy and federalism".
Citing apex court rulings, he added, "Supreme Court judgments (SR Bommai, Nabam Rebia) are clear: Governors must act with neutrality, restraint, and constitutional morality - not as political agents of the Centre."
"The governor must either uphold the Constitution or stop misusing a constitutional office to create confrontation," Tagore said.