Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has questioned the rationale behind Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s statewide tour, a day after slamming him for the attempted attacks on the Governor's convoy by Student Federation of India (SFI) activists.
The Chief Minister is currently on a state-wide tour, which began on November 18. CM Vijayan has been travelling across the state meeting voters along with his cabinet ministers. The trip, which is scheduled to go on until December 24, is expected to cover all 140 assembly constituencies.
The Governor told the media in Delhi on Wednesday, December 13, that he failed to understand the objective of the statewide yatra of CM Vijayan and his entire cabinet.
Governor Khan has also blamed the state government for the alleged financial crisis Kerala is facing and claimed that the situation had arisen due to “extravagance”.
“Was there any need for this tour? Given the economic situation people need solutions to their economic problems and not these tours,” the Governor said. He also said that he feels sorry for Kerala and alleged the state’s revenue was coming only from the sale of lottery tickets and liquor.
Governor Khan’s statement on the financial crisis comes in the wake of the Pinarayi government having petitioned the Supreme Court against the Governor regarding delays in providing assent to bills passed by the state’s Legislative Assembly.
The tussle between the Governor and the state government has intensified now. After the blockade of his convoy, Khan had asked the state chief secretary and police chief not to brush-off the SFI attack case.
He also said that the ‘conspiracy’ behind the attempted attack was hatched by the ‘Chief Minister.’
On December 11, SFI cadres stopped the Governor’s car, forcing him to get down from the vehicle and argue with the protesters and police personnel. Khan had also questioned how the protesters had been allowed near his car.
With agency inputs