The Kerala government’s draft policy speech criticising the Centre’s new citizenship matrix is unlikely to be changed despite governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s insistence that the contentious portion be dropped from the document he is scheduled to read out on Wednesday.
Khan, a government source suggested, could at best skip the portion he wants removed when he reads out the document, kicking off the budget session, but the whole speech would still declare the state government’s stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Late on Monday evening, a government source said it had been conveyed to Khan that the draft wouldn’t be changed but there was no question of any confrontation with the governor.
Khan has been sniping at the Left Democratic Front government over its moves against the citizenship law, including the decision to approach the Supreme Court without informing him.
He has also accused the ruling LDF and the Opposition of wasting public money by convening a special Assembly session on December 31 to move a motion seeking the withdrawal of the controversial legislation.
Khan had returned the draft speech to the government on two counts. His main contention was state governments had no right to call for withdrawing a central act. He had also argued it would be improper to mention the act in the policy speech since several petitions were pending against it in the Supreme Court.
Very rarely, however, does a policy speech — prepared by a government outlining a state’s policy outlook for the new financial year — gets tweaked as the governor just reads it out before the Assembly to mark the beginning of the budget session.
Differences have surfaced too on a related matter — a notice for permission to move a motion seeking the governor’s recall over his public assertions against the Assembly.
While Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan has not yet given his nod to the notice sent by the leader of the Opposition in the House, Ramesh Chennithala, the Left and the Congress stood divided over the implications of allowing such a motion, which could tilt the scales in favour of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
“We are not going to support this crooked politics,” industries minister E.P. Jayarajan told reporters.
Chennithala, on his part, sought to put pressure on chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “I am firm over my notice,” the Congress veteran told a news conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
“Such a motion should have ideally been moved by the leader of the House, who is the state chief minister. But I am compelled to move it since the chief minister was quiet even after the governor’s humiliating tirade against the Assembly.”
This action is necessary as the governor “insulted” the House that passed the resolution, Chennithala added.