Amidst the ongoing tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the Left government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday threw an open challenge to the ruling CPI-M to attack him if they have guts and blamed the ruling disposition for the collapse of the entire constitutional machinery in the state.
“Don’t hold it CPI(M) march on 15 November, hold it on a day when I am in the Raj Bhavan. I will come there, let’s have a public debate…VCs are being stopped from performing their duty, law and order issues are being created, I am being threatened with dire consequences,” Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan said addressing the mediapersons in Kochi.
“They have initiated the process of collapse of constitutional machinery. I would urge them to go ahead, create more problems, barge into the Raj Bhavan if they have the guts, attack me on the road. CM says that he doesn’t know who I am, I know who he is. He is the one who tried to free a man who was charged of murder but was forced to return after an officer pointed a gun at him,” he added.
The Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) M.V. Govindan on Sunday announced that they would organise a massive protest in front of Raj Bhavan on November 15 with along with other left parties against the governor alleging him of sitting over the bills for a long time.
“The government has sought legal opinion over the Governor sitting over various bills and his attempts to unseat a majority of vice-chancellors in the state. Governor is not allowed to hold the bills for a long time. We will move to any extent to fight this uncertainty,” CPIM chief secretary M.V. Govindan said.
At first, the Kerala Governor had asked the Kairali News (channel of CPIM) and Media One to leave the place and shouted that he will not meet these two channels alleging them of “masqueadering” being political persons. “They are not media, they are masquerading as media but are basically political persons…I had categorically mentioned that I will not talk to Kairali and Media One,” he said.
Asked about his stand on the replies of Vice Chancellors (of six universities) to the show-cause notice, Governor AM Khan said that he cannot reply unless he goes through their responses. “A situation is being created where the Vice Chancellors are being stopped from performing their duties. I am threatened of consequences. I am ready to face. Let them come where they want to come,” Governor Khan said further underscoring that the government has not produced any instance of his interference in their administration.
“They said I am interfering in the administration, I say I will resign if they produce one instance, have they come forward with any? Everyone of you knows that they try to control Rajbhavan, my personal staff, who are they to tell me who should i appoint?,” he added.
